But the milestone comes as the country’s broader payments ecosystem undergoes its own transformation, with the South African Reserve Bank reshaping the management of the national payment system alongside PayInc.
As Buy Now Pay Later moves further into the mainstream, convenience and flexibility are becoming increasingly important to consumers – while the payments industry faces growing demands for resilience, transparency and accountability.
“People are thinking much more carefully about how they want to pay and how a purchase fits into their broader monthly spending,” says Dean Hyde, chief operating officer at PayJustNow.
“We’re seeing a shift in the role payments play in everyday financial decisions, particularly among younger consumers who are comfortable managing more of their financial lives digitally.”
PayJustNow now serves around 4.5 million customers and is adding between 120,000 and 135,000 customers a month, demonstrating the scale at which BNPL payments have moved into the mainstream.
PayJustNow’s holding company, Weaver Fintech, recently reported an 88% increase in payments revenue in its half-year results, while the payments book more than doubled. Weaver Fintech’s wider fintech customer base reached 4.8 million, with 835,000 customers joining during the first half of 2026.
The customer profile is also increasingly shaped by younger consumers, with 65% of Weaver Fintech’s group customers falling into the Millennial or Gen Z cohorts. Customers using two or more Weaver products also grew by 29%.
This suggests that payments are increasingly becoming the starting point for consumers’ broader digital financial relationships.
“At this scale, BNPL is no longer a niche payment option. It is part of how a large and growing group of South Africans chooses to pay,” says Hyde. “Our focus is on continuing to grow that adoption responsibly, while giving customers flexibility and keeping capital at risk below 2% of transaction value.”
As flexible payments become more established, the wider financial system is also evolving to provide greater visibility of consumer payment behaviour.
The National Credit Regulator has instructed BNPL providers to begin reporting consumer payment behaviour to credit bureaus from February 2027, while many BNPL providers have already been submitting data to the South African Credit and Risk Reporting Association since April 2026.
For Hyde, greater visibility can support a more informed and responsible payments ecosystem, while helping consumers build a credit score.
“As BNPL becomes a more established part of how South Africans pay, greater visibility of payment behaviour can help consumers, providers and the wider financial system better understand financial commitments,” he says. “In addition, every on-time repayment made by a PayJustNow customer will count towards building a positive credit record.
The evolution of BNPL therefore reflects a broader change in the payments landscape: consumers are increasingly looking for flexibility, digital convenience and greater choice in how they transact, while the industry itself moves towards greater transparency and accountability.
PayJustNow’s record transaction value month reflects both trends – the growing adoption of flexible payments and the emergence of payments as a significant part of South Africa’s digital financial ecosystem.
