To crack down on password sharing, Netflix is testing an “add a home” feature in five Latin American countries.
Beginning Aug. 22, customers in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will pay an additional cost if they use an account on a TV or TV-connected device outside their primary residence for more than two weeks.
“Today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service,” Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix, said in a blog post.
As long as their account has not been used in that area before, customers can watch Netflix for up to 14 days for free if they’re using the TV temporarily. After that, unless they add the extra house, Netflix will block the TV.
Both people on vacation and those using mobile devices like cellphones, tablets or laptops to access Netflix won’t be impacted by this. To add an additional home, users will pay $2.99 per month in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and $1.70 per month in Argentina.
In these countries, Netflix is also developing a tool that will enable users to monitor account usage and set access limits. They can add one additional home if they’re on the basic plan, up to two on the standard plan and up to three on the premium plan.
According to Netflix, more than 100 million households are using accounts that have been paid for by others. So in March, the company announced it would be testing ways to charge for password sharing and launched two new features for customers in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.
In those countries, users of standard and premium plans could add sub-accounts for up to two people they don’t live with for between $2.00 and $2.99. Members could also enable people who share their accounts to transfer profile information to either a new account or an extra sub-account.