Netflix No Longer Allowing Existing Customers to Pay For Accounts Through Apple
Netflix No Longer Allowing Existing Customers to Pay For Accounts Through Apple
Customers can still watch Netflix through their Apple TV device, but they cannot pay their bill through Apple any longer.
Apple Pay is a highly convenient way for customers to pay for their subscriptions all on one bill, instead of having to keep track of myriad expenses every month. According to Forbes, the average American consumer now has 4.5 streaming subscriptions, and remembering when those services bill each month can be a real hassle. Unfortunately for such customers, Netflix has begun informing subscribers who are still using Apple to pay for their account that they will no longer be able to do so.
- Netflix has not allowed new or returning subscribers to sign up via Apple for some time, but existing customers could still use Apple to pay for their account.
- Third-party platforms often take a percentage of all streaming signups that occur through their digital store.
- Netflix has declined to create a dedicated app for Apple’s new Vision Pro headset.
As Netflix's American Help Center page regarding billing through Apple makes clear, the streamer has not accepted new subscriptions through Apple payment methods for some time. But until now, existing customers who signed up for their Netflix accounts through Apple have been able to keep that payment method in place. However, Netflix has now begun notifying customers in some territories that they need to find a new way to pay if they want to keep their subscriptions active.
A spokesperson for Netflix told The Streamable that this change will apply to customers on Netflix’s Basic plan in some countries including the United States and Canada.
Netflix is somewhat shy about allowing companies that offer competing streaming services to distribute its platform. For instance, Netflix does not offer itself on the Prime Video Channels platform, and the only distribution partners it allows customers to sign up through are cable/satellite companies like Cox and DIRECTV, or mobile firms like T-Mobile and Verizon.
If you are a Netflix basic tier customer who subscribed to the streamer through Apple and have not changed your payment method in many years, keep an eye out. You may soon receive an email from Netflix telling you that your payment method will need to change if you want to remain subscribed to the service.
Is Netflix Feeling Threatened by Apple?
Some analysts believe that enormous tech companies like Apple are the future of streaming, despite the fact that none has shown remarkable success with their own streaming services yet. Netflix’s move to disallow current subscribers to pay for their accounts through Apple could be seen as a sign that the streamer feels somehow threatened by Apple and that it wants to stop helping the competition by offering its service through Apple payment platforms.
When looking at the relative position of the two companies, however, this seems unlikely. Netflix has over 260 million streaming customers, and although Apple does not release its subscriber numbers publicly, estimates put it at between 40 and 50 million on its entertainment streamer Apple TV+. In other words, Netflix has little to fear from Apple from a streaming perspective; what’s more likely is that it no longer sees a need to continue paying Apple commissions for the customers who signed up to stream Netflix through Apple.
This is not the only recent schism between Apple and Netflix of late. Apple recently launched its new Vision Pro mixed reality headset, but Netflix declined to create a new app specially designed to run on the Vision Pro’s operating software. Viewers who want to watch Netflix on the Vision Pro have to use the headset’s built-in web browser to do so.
*This article has been updated to reflect that this only affects the basic tier customers, per a Netflix representative.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”