Teya, the payments and financial services provider serving more than 75,000 small businesses across Europe, has been selected by the Financial Conduct Authority for its Scale-up Unit. The London-based company is one of five firms in the unit’s first solo-regulated cohort, a track distinct from the six dual-regulated firms accepted by both the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority in February 2026.

The FCA launched the Scale-up Unit in October 2025 with the stated aim of deepening engagement with fast-growing regulated firms. Participants receive a dedicated regulatory contact and structured support across four areas: navigating regulatory processes, developing new products, assessing the implications of incoming policy, and contributing to sector-wide engagement.

What the unit offers in practice

The practical benefit of the unit is access rather than licence dispensation. Firms do not receive a lighter regulatory touch by joining; instead they gain a named point of contact inside the FCA who can help a growing company interpret rule changes, engage early on product questions and contribute to consultation responses. For a company expanding across multiple European markets, that channel can meaningfully reduce the compliance lag that often slows product launches.

Tom Mylrea-Lowndes, general counsel and head of corporate and regulatory affairs at Teya, said: “Being accepted into the Scale-up Unit represents a meaningful opportunity for us to harness the FCA’s resources and expertise, and will help us realise our ambitions for growth and product innovation.”

Founded in 2019, Teya now operates in nine European markets, with more than 30,000 of its 75,000 business customers based in the UK. The company employs approximately 1,500 people. It has not disclosed revenue or a current valuation.

Market context and regulatory read-across

The FCA’s Scale-up Unit sits within a broader effort by UK financial regulators to position themselves as growth-friendly in the post-Brexit environment, a theme the government has reinforced through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 and successive competitiveness objectives imposed on both the FCA and PRA. The unit is one instrument in that effort, alongside the existing Regulatory Sandbox and the Fintech Sector Strategy.

For Teya, the timing is relevant. The company competes in the small-business payments and banking segment alongside established acquirers, neobanks and specialist point-of-sale providers. Its stated long-term target is one million business customers, a figure that would require both continued UK growth and material expansion in its existing European markets. Regulatory fluency becomes more valuable at that scale, particularly as the EU’s payment services rulebook continues to evolve under PSD3 and as the FCA develops its own approach to embedded finance and business accounts.

The company recently released a business account product and Teya Pro, a card terminal it says completes transactions in under 1.7 seconds. Neither product announcement came with customer adoption figures, so the commercial traction behind the pipeline remains unclear. The Scale-up Unit membership is a credible signal of regulatory standing, but the operational milestones ahead, including named product launches and market entry disclosures, will be the more significant indicators to watch.

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