Sharing access to a single Netflix account is pretty easy and straightforward if you live in a house with more than one person. The streaming service technically hosts options like multiple profile support, for instance. However, password sharing is still a problem for the streamer, and it’s working on ways to crack down.
Netflix being accessed by more than one person in a single household isn’t much of a big deal for Netflix. As mentioned above, they have separate profiles and have premium subscription offers that allow for multiple streams at the same time. But, accessing a single account from different households is still a sore spot for Netflix.
It has run tests in the past to alleviate this issue, and now the steamer is testing another. As reported by Variety, Netflix is testing a new payment option that will charge users a bit more per month to allow them to share their account password. The idea is pretty straightforward, but here’s Chengyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, on the matter:
We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans,’ Long wrote in a blog post about the test. ‘While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.
This is an “add an extra member” feature, and Netflix is going to start testing it in three countries: Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. The test is said to launch in the next few weeks. However, it’s worth noting that there’s no immediate information on hand that says Netflix is going to expand the feature beyond those countries. It’s possible the steamer never does.
With this feature, Netflix customers on Standard or Premium plans will be able to add on up to two different people to their account as subsidiary accounts. Each of those individuals will get their own profiles, too. They will also get their own login and password, interestingly enough. The individual subsidiary accounts will also pick up their own personalized recommendations.
All of that will be available for a lower amount than what the standard Netflix account costs.
This isn’t the first test of this nature that Netflix has run. Just last year, for instance, Netflix was testing another way to limit password sharing between separate households. That ultimately didn’t pan out to a full-fledged feature, though. And it’s possible this one won’t, either.
But, asking customers to pay a bit more to allow them to share their password isn’t a terrible idea. Though, Netflix continues to raise the price tag of its plans on a semi-regular basis, anyway, so maybe that’s not the best option after all.
What do you think?