Direct online lender LendUp, which provides personal loans to underserved banking customers, announced that it has raised strategic funding from PayPal and expanded its executive ranks.
According to Tech Crunch, LendUp wants to expand their credit cards and other services for a demographic that most banks ignore, or worse, charge exorbitant fees to use their services. It’s a group that LendUp likes to call “the emerging middle class,” and the company aims to provide it with tools to get out of debt, save money and become more financially successful.
This is a vision, according to LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff, that PayPal shares and the two companies serve many of the same customers.
“We liken this a lot to what AmEx did for the wealthy business traveler, [LendUp] could do for a different customer,” said Orloff.
In addition to the funding, LendUp announced that Carrie Dolan, CFO of Metromile and former CFO of Lending Club, is joining LendUp as a board advisor. Dolan previously served as treasurer of Charles Schwab Corp. and as CFO of Schwab Bank, which she helped launch in 2003.
Additionally, LendUp has promoted Vijesh Iyer to its COO position. Iyer previously spent 15 years at PayPal and Capital One. Former PayPal executive Mandeep Walia will serve as LendUp’s new chief compliance officer, and former Lending Club and Schwab executive Jordan Olivier is joining as vice president of finance. LendUp also brought on former PwC and Schwab executive Karry Bryan as vice president and controller.