Netflix expands paid sharing to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain

Netflix is expanding paid account sharing to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain on February 8, giving eligible subscribers a way to pay for people outside their household to use their account.

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In its announcement, Netflix says Standard and Premium subscribers in the four countries can add extra-member subaccounts for up to two people they don’t live with. Each extra member gets a profile, recommendations and their own login and password.

The monthly charge is per extra member, on top of the subscription:

• Canada: CAD$7.99
• New Zealand: NZD$7.99
• Portugal: €3.99
• Spain: €5.99

Netflix says an account is intended for one household. It’ll help subscribers set a primary location, while its Manage Access and Devices page lets them review who has access to the account.

Someone moving to a separate paid account can transfer their profile, keeping their viewing history, recommendations, My List and saved games. Netflix also says subscribers can continue watching on personal devices while travelling, or sign in to a TV at a hotel or holiday rental.

The expansion follows Netflix’s experiments with account-sharing arrangements in Latin America over the past year. The company says more than 100 million households share accounts and argues that this limits what it can invest in films and TV. That figure is Netflix’s own estimate.

For subscribers sharing with someone who lives elsewhere, the announcement sets out two options: an eligible account can pay for an extra member, or that person can transfer their profile to a subscription of their own. Netflix says it’ll refine the features based on subscriber feedback.

Earlier coverage: Netflix’s first-quarter paid-sharing plans.