Netflix offers freeloaders a carrot

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Netflix has introduced a new Profile Transfer feature which lets you take your favourites, recommendations, saved games and other personalised settings with you if you leave a shared household account and start your own membership.

The firm has pitched it as a useful feature if you've had a life change, such as moving out after the end of a relationship.

But pundits have seen it aimed squarely at password freeloaders: kids who've left home but still use their parents' Netflix login details, ex-flatmates who're still using a password, and moochers in general.

Password sharing has been one of Netflix's biggest problems - but it's also been wary of taking measures that are too heavy-handed in a market where it's facing rising competition from Disney+ and Amazon's Prime Video.

Earlier this year, it trailed a stick in several South American countries. People were logged out of their Netflix accounts. When they signed back in, they were asked to verify they were within the household that held the account. To soften the crackdown, it let customers add up to two profiles per account, for US$2.99 ($5.21) each, for people outside their household.

It also offered the Profile Transfer feature for those who wanted to give up freeloading and create their own account.

Today, Profile Transfer has been extended to Netflix worldwide, including New Zealand.

The "stick" measures appear to be on pause, meanwhile. Netflix lost 1.2 million customers globally during the first half of this year - although there were other factors, including belt-tightening and the withdrawal of service from Russia.

Netflix shares closed up 6.57 per cent to US$245.10, continuing their recent recovery (and outpacing a broader bounceback that saw the Dow up 1.86 per cent and the Nasdaq up 3.43 per cent).

Its stock dived after the customer losses revealed in the first and second quarters, falling from an all-time high of US$700.99 to as low as US$162.71.

But shares have recently re-gained ground on Netflix's forecast that it will return to customer growth in its September quarter (which will be reported tomorrow) and confirmation that Netflix Basic With Ads will launch on November 3.

Netflix's Profile Transfer how-to

• You'll be notified by email as soon as Profile Transfer becomes available on your account.

• To transfer a profile, go to the "Transfer Profile" option when you hover over your profile icon in the dropdown menu on the homepage — then simply follow the instructions.

• You can always turn off Profile Transfer in your account settings at any time.