Netflix Is Automatically Cancelling Inactive Subscriptions

Netflix is going to cancel inactive accounts if their owners don't respond to a special email or in-app notification. The streaming giant is making this unusual move to help "save people some hard earned cash."

Netflix director of product innovation Eddy Wu detailed the move in a blog post on Thursday, saying that members who haven't watching anything on their accounts for over one year should start to see these emails and notifications this week. Subscriptions will be automatically cancelled if members don't reply.

"We’re asking everyone who has not watched anything on Netflix for a year since they joined to confirm they want to keep their membership," he wrote. "And we’ll do the same for anyone who has stopped watching for more than two years."

Wu added that these accounts make up an incredibly small part of Netflix's nearly 183 million-strong userbase, saying that they "represent less than half of one percent of our overall member base, only a few hundred thousand, and are already factored into our financial guidance."

Inactive members whose accounts get cancelled will still be able to recover their favorites, profiles, viewing preferences, and account details if they reopen their account within 10 months. The company hopes this move will turn some of these inactive accounts into active viewers.

Netflix recorded record growth in the first quarter of 2020 but doesn't expect that bump, which was fueled by worldwide stay-at-home orders caused by the pandemic, to continue further into the year.