Case Study: LendUp achieves scalable, compliant socially responsible small‑dollar lending with Heroku

Heroku App Offers Socially Responsible Small-Dollar Loans through an Innovative Lending Model

LendUp is a San Francisco fintech founded in 2012 that offers the LendUp Ladder — a socially responsible small‑dollar loan product designed for people declined by traditional lenders. Facing a market dominated by predatory payday loans and a tangle of state‑by‑state compliance rules, LendUp needed a secure, scalable platform that could underwrite loans in real time, deliver clear pricing and education, and help borrowers build credit rather than sink deeper into debt.

To do that, LendUp built most of its stack in‑house on Heroku, using the Play framework, Heroku Postgres, and add‑ons like New Relic, Librato and Papertrail, plus machine‑learning risk models, ACH processing, and a loan management system. The result is a fast‑iterating, compliant platform with gamified education and a points‑based ladder that unlocks larger, lower‑cost loans and credit reporting—giving customers safer access to short‑term credit while reducing operational overhead and the need for dedicated DevOps.

LendUp

Jacob Rosenberg

CTO, LendUp