[nodesocket]

I'll play devils advocate. If your Netflix and this direct Amex integration saves you 1/2 percent per transaction that makes a <strike>huge</strike> difference to your bottom line.

Netflix current subscribers 83 million and average revenue per subscriber per month is $10.32.

    $83M * $10.32 = $857M total revenue per month.
    Assume 10% of transactions are Amex. $857M * .10 = $86M per month.
    Finally 1/2 percent of $86M is a savings $430,000 per month.

[nodesocket]

UPDATE: I originally thought it was a savings of $430,000 a year, but it is actually a savings of $430,000 a month.

ORIGINAL: I think I just talked myself out of my own argument. That $430,000 savings is basically the cost of one Netflix engineer. The technical debt to maintain separate Amex billing easily would exceed $430,000 a year.

[mgkimsal]

why does the "cost of an engineer" continue to keep going massively up whenever these comparisons are made?

$430k? are netflix engineers that special?

glassdoor shows sr engineers around $200k - i can't tell if they're including stock/bonus in that or not. Range start in $120k range. Yes, taxes, yes benefits, but... $430k?

[ryan-c]

Salary + health care + payroll taxes + equipment + space + other overhead, etc.

[muninn_]

As a general rule of thumb a full time employee costs a company twice their salary.

[ryan-c]

I've heard that as well, but didn't want to dig up a citation.

[mplewis]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9588304

"Remember that Netflix does not typically offer bonuses, stock grants, etc, and just pays people a salary."

[yellowbeard]

I think you mean 430k / month?

[nodesocket]

Ahhhh your right. The revenue per subscriber is per month.

[tedunangst]

Even annually, this is a 40 hours per week non stop engagement? There's no possible way the existing billing team could absorb the load?

[mbesto]

I'm pretty sure at this scale they are not getting standard rates for all of their payments. Actually I know that for a fact (Amex is a customer of mine).

[vegabook]

430k a month is not "<strike>huge</strike>", it is a modest sum at best, and for 5m USD a year you can bet your bottom dollar that Visa/Mastercard will match/beat Amex. This is definitely not enough money for a big entity like Netflix to consider a strategic relationship which might subvert existential relationships.

[Artemis2]

Visa/MasterCard won't beat Amex for Amex cards. Amex can charge whatever they want because they completely own the card network (as opposed to transactions going through the traditional traditional interchange for Visa and MasterCard). Because of that you have to work with them to accept Amex cards, and while an acquirer can help, the only real way to save on fees is to work directly with Amex.

[scoot]

> Assume 10% of transactions are Amex.

Big assumption. Amex is not commonly used outside the US. I reckon you could safely cut that to 5%, if not less.