Netflix says it is working to localize payment methods in the Asia Pacific region to make subscriptions easier for people who want to pay using Unified Payments Interface (UPI), digital wallet and direct carrier billing.
“We accelerated this journey of diversifying payment methods nine months ago and the results have been impressive,” the streaming service said on its website Monday (June 27).
According to Netflix, the number of new subscribers signing up with an alternative payment method more than tripled between 2020 and 2021. At the same time, the company added 16 new payment methods.
That trend has continued this year, Netflix said, with the number of signups using alternative payment methods doubling year over year.
Netflix says this is due to the growing popularity of digital wallets, which are projected to make up nearly three-fourths of eCommerce transactions in APAC by 2025.
“On the other hand, not all members have access to credit cards, and debit cards often don’t work as well as they should for subscription transactions in their markets,” the company said.
“For example in India, a number of cards are not enabled for recurring payments, while in Southeast Asia many banks require customers to opt-in for online payments adding another step of friction.”
Read more: To Binge or Not to Binge? That is the Question Facing Netflix
Earlier this month, news broke that Netflix was struggling to boost its subscriber growth, leading to scrutiny of the company’s binge-watch strategy.
At the beginning of the month, Peter Friedlander, who heads scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, told Variety, “We fundamentally believe that we want to give our members the choice in how they view, and so giving them that option on these scripted series to watch as much as they want to watch when they watch it, is still fundamental to what we want to provide.”
He added that “when you see something like a batched season with ‘Stranger Things,’ this is our attempt at making sure we can get shows out quicker to the members.”
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