After months of testing, Netflix has finally launched its Profile Transfer feature that lets users move their personalised recommendations, viewing history, lists, saved games and other related settings to a different account.
Netflix announced this in March this year alongside their new pay-to-share model introduced in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, allowing them to add extra members to their existing plans.
The feature is now expanding from the aforementioned three countries to the rest of the world. Users will be notified by email as soon as their accounts become eligible for Profile Transfer. The setting can also be disabled from account settings at any time.
The two major reasons these features exist are that firstly, Netflix is looking to end the account-sharing problem that the streaming platform has been facing for some time now, and Netflix’s terms of service state that account passwords must not be shared with individuals outside households. However, it’s safe to say that this isn’t adhered to very well in the real world.
The second reason is that it’s easier for people who lived together and shared a Netflix account to now part ways and not worry about losing their library and personalised recommendations to a new account.
The streaming giant is actively looking for ways to increase subscribers, especially considering that according to its own estimates, over 100 million households are accessing the platform using shared accounts.
These features not only allow Netflix to get more revenue out of password-sharing accounts but also to ease the transition for new and especially solo accounts who might be tempted to get their own subscription now that they won’t have to start from scratch.
Paying more to share your account with someone else will at least cut some of their losses, while the ability to transfer profiles is helpful for those who actually might end up paying Netflix more or would opt for their own subscriptions.
In the News: Kanye West acquires conservative-friendly social network, Parler
