Fair Finance is a UK-based social business that specializes in providing affordable personal loans to financially excluded individuals. The company targets customers who are typically rejected by mainstream banks or exploited by high-cost credit providers. See more fair finance

This software suite powers Fair Finance’s digital operations, covering customer applications, internal tools, core business logic, analytics, data synchronization, and integrations.

Customer Application Platform

• Purpose: Primary interface for loan applications and account management.
• Technology:
  • Next.js 14 (React 18)
  • UI: Material UI (MUI) 6
  • Testing: Playwright
• Third-Party & Services:
  • ff-api(Central backend service)
  • ff-tracker: User behavior tracking system for application form analytics
• Key Features:
  • Multi-step loan application form with validation
  • Loan tracking and repayment management
  • Customer profile and settings

Internal Portal Dashboard

• Purpose: Internal tools for Fair Finance staff to manage operations.
• Technology:
  • Next.js RC (React RC)
  • UI : Material UI (MUI) 6
• Third-Party & Services:
  • ff-api: Central backend service
  • Google Analytics: Google Analytics Data API used for marketing analytics and user behavior analysis
  • Anthropic Claude: AI-powered analytics
  • AWS S3: Document storage and file management system via presigned URLs
• Key Features:
  • Loan application review and processing
  • Customer data management and CRM integration
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Data Visualizations and statistics

Core Business Logic API

• Purpose: Central backend service handling all business operations
• Technology:
  • Node.js (Express.js API framework) with TypeScript
  • Serverless Framework on AWS Lambda
  • Deployment & Infrastructure:
    • GitHub Actions: workflows for automated CI/CD
    • Terraform: manage core infrastructure
  • Databases:
    • MongoDB: Customer data and forms, operational data
    • SQL Server (RDS): loan data, customer information, personal details
• Third-Party & Services:
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365: CRM system integration using REST API
  • Anchor LMS: Loan Management System using SOAP/XML API
  • Open Banking Vision (OBV): Bank account data and transaction analysis
  • Google Analytics: User behavior tracking and marketing analytics
  • AWS Services:
    • S3: Document storage and file management
    • SQS: messaging and task queues
    • SES: Transactional emails
    • Cognito: User authentication and authorization
    • Athena/Glue: Analytics data processing
• Key Features:
  • API endpoints for customer-portal & internal-portal
  • Loan application processing.
  • Secure Integration with external systems (Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM), Loan Management System(LMS), Open Banking Vision(obv))
  • Business rule enforcement and decision logic
  • Tracking & Reporting

Secure API Gateway

• Purpose: Reverse proxy service providing secure, centralized access to external financial APIs and services
• Technology:
  • NGINX: Reverse proxy server
  • Infrastructure:
    • AWS EC2: Hosting environment
    • VPC: Network isolation
  • Deployment & Infrastructure:
    • Terraform: Infrastructure as code
    • GitHub Actions: Automated deployments
• Third-Party & Services: (proxy connects to):
  • Open Banking Vision (OBV): Bank transaction data and financial analysis
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365: CRM and customer data
• Key Features:
  • IP whitelisting for third-party API access
  • Credential management and request transformation
  • Centralized access point for external integrations (e.g., Open Banking Vision, Dynamics 365)

Financial Data Processing Platform

• Purpose: A robust analytics platform built to process, transform, and visualize financial data from various sources.
• Technology:
  • Node.js: Core processing engine for the ADP module
  • Python: Powers the Dynamics CRM integration
• Third-Party & Services:
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365: CRM and customer data
  • Anchor LMS: Loan Management System
• Key Features:
  • Processes financial and loan application data
  • Provides analytical insights
  • Transforms financial and loan data into structured formats
  • Retrieves and analyzes loan application data

Customer Journey Analytics

• Purpose: Tracks user behavior through loan application forms to identify drop-off points, optimize conversion rates, and detect potential duplicate applications
• Technology:
  • Node.js with Express: Backend processing service
  • Deployment & Infrastructure:
    • AWS ECS: Container orchestration for backend service
    • AWS ECR: Docker image registry
    • GitHub Actions: CI/CD workflows for deployment
• Third-Party & Services:
  • AWS Services:
    • Lambda: Event ingestion gateway with environment routing
    • S3: Storage for tracking data (events, user sessions)
    • SQS FIFO: Message queuing for ordered event processing
• Key Features:
  • Real-time session tracking and user flow mapping
  • Conversion funnel analysis and drop-off identification
  • CSV data extraction and storage for analytics

Anchor LMS Data Integration

• Purpose: Automated synchronization system that retrieves, converts, stores, and restores Anchor LMS database backups
• Technology:
  • Node.js (Express.js API framework) with TypeScript
  • Deployment & Infrastructure:
    • GitHub Actions: workflows for automated CI/CD
    • Terraform: manage core infrastructure
    • Windows EC2: Hosting environment
  • Databases:
    • PostgreSQL (RDS): structured data storage
• Third-Party & Services:
  • Anchor LMS: Source of proprietary SQL backups (.sqb format)
  • SFTP server: Backup file retrieval point
  • Databases:
    • SQL Server (RDS): SQL Server databases used to restore Anchor database backups data.
  • AWS Services:
    • EC2 Windows: Processing server for backup conversion
    • S3: Long-term storage for original and converted backups
    • SSM: Secure parameter storage
    • VPC: Network isolation and security
• Key Features:
  • Daily automated backup retrieval from SFTP server
  • Proprietary format conversion (.sqb to .bak)
  • Secure storage in AWS S3 and restoration to RDS SQL Server
  • RESTful API for manual operations
  • Data integrity verification and validation

Third-Party Data Backup Service

• Purpose: Service that automates the retrieval, transformation, and secure archival of Open Banking data tied to loan applications stored in CRM.
• Technology:
  • Node.js (Express.js API framework) with TypeScript
  • Deployment & Infrastructure:
    • GitHub Actions: workflows for automated CI/CD
    • Terraform: manage core infrastructure
  • Databases:
    • PostgreSQL (RDS): structured data storage
• Third-Party & Services:
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM): Source of loan application data
  • Open Banking Vision (OBV): Financial data provider
  • AWS Services:
    • SSM: Securely stores all sensitive credentials
    • S3: Terraform state storage
    • VPC: Network isolation
• Key Features:
  • Fetches applications with OBV references from Dynamics CRM
  • Retrieves detailed Open Banking data using references
  • Automated synchronization of Open Banking data
  • Structured storage in PostgreSQL with transaction safety
  • Data validation and integrity checking