August 2026 Summaries

Gartner's 2026 Hype Cycle for Fraud and Financial Crime Prevention highlights emerging technologies that bank CIOs and fraud-prevention leaders can use to detect and combat financial crimes, emphasizing the integration of AI agents and journey-time orchestration (JTO). Descope is recognized as a Sample Vendor for its capabilities in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) for AI Agents and JTO, which are crucial in managing AI-driven transactions and assessing risk throughout the customer journey. The report underscores the importance of managing AI agent identities and consent to prevent account takeovers and improve user experiences. Descope's Agentic Identity Hub and Descope Flows are designed to address these challenges by providing secure management of AI agents and orchestrating user journeys with built-in risk assessment tools. The Hype Cycle serves as a guide for financial institutions to prioritize investments in technologies that are reshaping the landscape of fraud prevention and customer interactions in the digital age.

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are crucial in the U.S. prescription drug market, with major companies like Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and Optum Rx handling a significant portion of claims. As PBMs expand their digital services, integrating member apps, specialty programs, and electronic health records, robust identity and authentication systems have become vital for both access and compliance. These systems face challenges due to diverse user groups requiring distinct access permissions, the risk of credential stuffing and account takeovers, and the need for compliance with various regulations such as HIPAA and FTC transparency rules. The complexity is compounded by frequent mergers and the need for rapid integration of identity systems. Modern identity solutions like Descope offer PBMs passwordless authentication, adaptive multi-factor authentication, and the unification of identity across different portals, easing the operational burden on engineering teams and reducing fraud risks. A success story highlighted is SmithRx, which successfully consolidated its identity systems across multiple portals using Descope, achieving more efficient and secure operations. As PBMs continue to navigate a landscape of increased online services and regulatory scrutiny, adopting flexible, unified identity systems becomes essential to maintain security, compliance, and operational efficiency.