Hulu Users Can Now Put Venmo Mobile Payments to Work
I haven’t been a Hulu subscriber in years. At least, not until that Black Friday sale when they offered up a year of service for $12. That was worth it to get me back in. For those who were staying out because of a lack of payment options, though, you’ll be happy to note that there’s one more, and one that will likely appeal to Hulu users: the company now accepts Venmo payments for subscription fees.
Users with Venmo accounts will get access to an expedited sign up process as well, with a few clicks required instead of a full entering of credit card information. Venmo will appear as an option at the payment screen, and users can either call on their Venmo balance or a payment system linked to Venmo to carry out the payment.
This isn’t the first expansion along these lines Hulu has made, either; it recently hooked up with Spotify to offer up a combination Hulu / Spotify subscription plan, which was generally welcomed by its target market, reports note.
A Hulu rep noted “At Hulu, we want to bring our viewers choice and flexibility in as many ways as possible. From infusing our product with your favorite features like Night Mode on Web to supporting all the devices that matter most to you, we constantly strive to make it easy for you to stream, any way you want. And that includes how you want to pay for your Hulu subscription.”
While that’s basically corporate double-talk trying frantically to mask the “we want your money” imperative, it does offer a useful new feature for customers. With millennials neck-deep in payment apps, especially apps like Venmo that allow for easy sharing of cash between friends, actually using that cash on a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis makes total sense. Why not? Why not offer a way to buy a Hulu subscription based on a platform that the customer is already using?
“Be where your customers are.” It’s a maxim that’s done a lot of good for a lot of businesses, and Hulu is demonstrating how mobile payments platforms are part of that maxim now. Only time will tell just how it works going forward, but for right now, it’s looking good for Hulu.