The streaming provider doesn’t want Apple’s profit margin to reduce its money from subscriptions.

Soon iOS 17.4 will be here (arriving on March 6), and with it comes a big change for the European market. Under the Digital Markets Act, the App Store will lose its exclusivity, and Netflix is responding by changing its payment system (because there might be an alternative): it wants to convince users to use a new payment method, otherwise Netflix might suspend the account!

So they want to divert users using Apple devices away from the App Store payment system. It has already blocked subscriptions through this in 2018, but those who have already subscribed have not been banned. Netflix justifies its actions by saying that it does not want to pay Apple, since the Cupertino-based company takes a 15% cut of subscription fees. This is not the only area where Netflix’s strictness is felt, as the company is also taking action against password sharing (which slows the growth of its subscriber base, but as with everything, there are alternative solutions).

According to 9to5mac, Netflix’s US customer service website reports that in some countries, users will have to use a different payment method, which means they will have to subscribe through their payment system instead of the App Store. And this will be mandatory, otherwise their subscription will not continue. Although Netflix has not listed the countries affected, the US is certainly one of them, and this could be expanded later.

However, there is something else that might be a legitimate question: when will Netflix start suspending users who refuse to use a payment method other than the Apple App Store? We don’t know, but it’s likely that Netflix will start doing this during the summer, as it needs to give affected users time to switch, and not everyone watches the streaming service on a daily basis.

Source: WCCFTech, 9to5mac