HUH?

Netflix Blames Slump on Credit-Card Chip

Transition made it difficult for subscribers to pay.

Netflix said Wednesday its third-quarter earnings dropped 50 percent compared with last year, partly because of the transition to chip-based credit and debit cards. The company added only 880,000 subscribers in the U.S. during the quarter, missing its forecast of 1.15 million net additions. CEO Reed Hastings said Netflix missed its growth expectations because it didn’t factor in the “involuntary churn” that came with the migration to EMV technology, or chip-based cards. The company said the issuing of new cards meant account numbers could change, making it more difficult for customers to renew their subscriptions. The streaming service also faces competition from rivals Amazon, HBO, and Hulu.