Netflix didn’t have a rocket-launcher last quarter, particularly as people expected it to have a whole heap of new customers in the 130 countries it went live with in January, but that could be about to change as it starts to offer in-app billing on Android.
Just like when Netflix started letting users pay in-app on iOS last year, this move shows that many users are now wanting to leapfrog web signup when accessing content from the platform.
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Given that Android is hugely dominant around the world, estimated to be on up to 80 percent of handsets, offering a way to pay that doesn’t necessarily require an international credit card is only going to make it easier to make that all-important Netflix purchase.
Google Play cards that can be bought in person, with cash, aren’t available globally but are in some key markets like Mexico and Turkey. Direct carrier billing, paid from the credit on your phone using SMS, could prove to be popular in some places too.
Google will takes its standard 30 percent cut from all signups, but that’s a small price to pay for more direct access to smartphone owners in nearly every country in the world.
Netflix to add in-app billing to its Android app, courtesy of Google Play on Variety