Five fintechs join the FCA's Scale-up Unit — support, not a seal of approval
ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch have been given tailored regulatory support. That is a very different thing from a regulator's verdict on a firm, and the difference is worth stating plainly.
The Financial Conduct Authority said on 10 August 2026 that five firms had joined its Scale-up Unit: ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch. Per the press release they span payments, consumer finance, credit information and insurtech, and they are the first firms regulated solely by the FCA — rather than jointly with the Prudential Regulation Authority — to take part. Six jointly-regulated firms were announced as the Unit’s first cohort in February 2026.
Consumer-facing brands are among them, which is why the announcement is worth a column here.
What the Unit is
The FCA describes the Scale-up Unit as tailored regulatory support for fast-growing firms as they develop new products, respond to policy changes and manage rapid growth. It sits alongside the regulator’s existing innovation services — Innovation Pathways, the Pre-Application Support Service and the Early and High Growth Oversight function — which the FCA says have supported more than 1,000 firms since launch. Jessica Rusu, its chief data information and innovation officer, is quoted saying the regulator wants the UK to remain among the best places in the world to scale a financial services business.
Insights published the same day from a pilot with 15 high-growth firms show, the FCA says, that early investment in governance and controls helps firms handle expansion.
What it is not
It is not an endorsement. It is not a rating. It is not a statement about any of the five firms’ products, pricing, conduct or complaint handling, and the press release does not claim it is.
The distinction matters because it will not survive contact with marketing. A firm that has joined a programme run by its regulator has an obvious temptation to describe itself in terms that sound like approval, and readers meeting that language should treat “works with the FCA” as a support relationship rather than a quality mark. It is the same reasoning we applied to firms holding a temporary permission: the thing being checked does not answer the question most people think they are asking.
Nor does membership tell you what any of these firms is permitted to do. “Solo-regulated” is the FCA’s own shorthand for firms it supervises without the PRA, and says nothing about the permissions a given entity holds.
What a reader can do
Check the firm yourself. The FCA’s Firm Checker lets you search a firm by name and see whether it is authorised for the service being offered to you — the question that actually bears on your position as a customer. We will not assert what any of these five firms may or may not do.
Fin Watch is a publisher, not an authorised firm. We are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, we do not vouch for anyone’s permissions, and nothing here is financial advice.