Weaver Fintech, formerly HomeChoice International, says it will maintain its long-standing female-first marketing strategy even as it scales its fintech operations, with no immediate plans to target men more aggressively.
The group’s customer profile reflects its origins as a homeware retailer, in which 70% of clients were women. That bias has carried through to its financial services arm, with two-thirds of PayJustNow buy now pay later (BNPL) customers still female.
CEO Sean Wibberley said the approach was deliberate.
“We like to talk about ‘her’ when we talk about the customer. We do not talk about ‘him’ or ‘they’ or ‘the customer’. We say, ‘what does she want? How does she feel? What needs are we meeting with her?’,” he said.
Weaver designs its products, user interfaces and communication style through this “female lens”, which Wibberley believes strengthens loyalty and repayment performance.
“Over the years, without question and very consistently, female shoppers pay better than males [and] they stay on our systems for longer,” he said, adding that male customers “come along for the ride” without requiring a change in marketing tone.
Though the company has expanded into payments, insurance and lending, the female-first positioning still fits the profile of many BNPL and retail credit users. Wibberley said this focus works for both genders and for merchants in its network, as they target the same mass-market consumer base.
The group serves 3.7-million customers and 3,100 merchants through its fintech ecosystem and retail operations.
The group, which recently rebranded to reflect its shift from homeware retailing to a fintech-led model, said headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased 45% to 285.5c for the six months to end-June. Profit before tax rose 48% with 98% of earnings generated by the fintech segment.
An improved performance in the group’s lending and retail operations led to revenue growth. Customer numbers and collections also grew strongly, while the company ended the period with a robust cash position and access to additional funding.
An interim dividend of 140c per share, up 47% from last year, was declared.
“This new name better reflects our strategic evolution, with fintech now firmly established as the primary engine of growth and profitability,” Wibberley said.
“Our results show how deeply our ecosystem resonates with customers and merchants. We are not just scaling — we’re transforming how financial services are accessed and experienced across SA. With a solid technology foundation and a rapidly expanding user base, the group is well positioned for continued profitability, innovation and lasting impact on digital financial inclusion.”
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