Entertainment company streaming services: key payment trends

For entertainment companies with streaming services, delivering a smooth, secure, friction-free payment experience has never been more important.

Consumers paying for regular subscriptions, one-off film or TV rentals and in-game purchases now demand privacy, efficiency, and control in how they part with their hard-earned money. As a result, businesses must adapt their payment offerings to ensure these needs are met. 

In our latest guide, Key payment trends for entertainment company streaming services, we outline the factors driving changing consumer expectations, and how alternative payment methods (APMs) like eCash and digital wallets can help deliver a next-level payment experience.

Here’s some of our key takeaways.

A changing market

In recent years, the market has changed drastically for entertainment companies with streaming services. Once dominated by a handful of industry titans like Netflix and Amazon Prime, the number of services has now exploded.

And while film and TV has traditionally been the driving force behind entertainment companies’ streaming platforms, gaming has now entered the fray, with players now able to remotely access hardware on a service's servers, meaning they can instantly access games on their PCs, consoles, or smart devices.

The prevalence of gaming for entertainment companies with streaming services is not to be underestimated: Netflix is now looking to the medium as its next platform for growth. So how can entertainment companies with streaming services stand out from the crowd?

Demand for security and convenience

According to our latest Lost in Transaction research — in which we surveyed 14,500 consumers in North America, Europe, the UK, and Latin America about their payment habits — streaming services are the second top spending category (25%), after eating out and takeaways (27%). 

This popularity is good news for entertainment companies with streaming services, but consumers have changed their behaviour in other ways.

Video game players, for example, have increasingly high expectations of their purchasing experience when playing online games. Security remains a priority – 76% of respondents who make online gaming purchases think it's important for in-game payment methods to respect their privacy. But the research also found they demand convenience and speed, along with assurances around security.

Here’s how APMs can help deliver all three.

The power of eCash and recurring payments

With eCash, or online cash, consumers generate a barcode and pay offline at a conveniently-located store.

This means the viewer or player doesn’t have to connect a card or bank account to make a payment, and can avoid sharing their bank details – this helps overcome security concerns, while also offering a friction-free way to make payments. In fact, 49% of respondents who make online gaming purchases think eCash is the safest way to pay for in-game purchases.

And now, for the first time, consumers in Europe can pay for their entertainment streaming service subscriptions with cash, using paysafecard’s new recurring payments feature. This feature allows entertainment businesses to make paying for subscriptions even easier, securely capturing recurring cash payments without requiring the customer to be present during the transaction.

To learn more about how eCash and paysafecard’s recurrent payment feature works for consumers and businesses alike, download our Key payment trends for entertainment company streaming services guide.

Improving efficiency with digital wallets

Our Lost in Transaction research found that 63% of respondents who make online gaming purchases think digital wallets are the most convenient way to pay, and 58% think they're the safest option.

This is no surprise, given digital wallets don’t require consumers to share financial details, with all sensitive data stored securely in an encrypted format. In terms of cost control, many digital wallets give users real-time insights into how much they're spending, as well as the ability to set spending limits.

All a consumer must do is log into their digital wallet and confirm payment. This offers seamless payments, whether a viewer is setting up a new subscription to catch that latest hot show, or a gamer has their eye on a cool skin in their favourite streaming battle royale.

For entertainment businesses with streaming services, the right payment services provider can make the process of integrating APMs like digital wallets and eCash into the online checkout quick and seamless, and help them meet consumer demands to thrive in the future.

Want to learn more about the payment opportunities for entertainment companies with streaming services? Check out our latest guide, Key payment trends for entertainment company streaming services.