The Distillery #22: Network APIs Go Agentic & Inside the Scam Social Media Ads Surge

Get your calendar ready!

The dates for the Future Digital Awards 2026 are here!

We've made some changes to this year’s programme, including moving the Fintech & Payments Awards earlier in the calendar, and adding a brand new Identity & Security Awards covering digital identity, fraud prevention, and cybersecurity. The year will then conclude with the Telco Innovation Awards in their usual slot, ready for 2027.

All awards remain free to enter and free to win, and open to vendors of all sizes worldwide.

🟣 Fintech & Payments Awards

Nominations Open: 18th February
Nominations Close: 24th April
Winners Announced: 24th June

🟣 Identity & Security Awards (New for 2026!)

Nominations Open: 20th May
Nominations Close: 7th August
Winners Announced: 7th October

🟣 Telco Innovation Awards

Nominations Open: 2nd September
Nominations Close: 23rd October
Winners Announced: 27th January 2027

Good luck! As always, if you have you any questions, don't hesitate to email us at info@juniperresearch.com.

Also in this edition:

• Telefónica and Nokia test AI-native network exposure, as agentic AI begins edging into the $8.1 billion network API market.
• MrBeast acquires teen banking app Step, bringing creator-scale distribution into an already crowded youth fintech landscape.
• Scam social media ad impressions in Europe approach 1 trillion, raising fresh questions about platform accountability.
• Our latest insights on telecoms, modern card issuing, eCommerce fraud, and mobile money.

TELECOMS & CONNECTIVITY

Telefónica and Nokia Test AI-Native Network Exposure

Telefónica and Nokia have announced a collaboration to accelerate the adoption of network APIs using agentic AI and AI agents. The partnership focuses on integrating the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol and Model Context Protocol (MCP) to streamline how network APIs are exposed and consumed.

The first project under the collaboration tested a bank fraud prevention agent. Telefónica used an MCP server from Nokia’s Network Exposure Platform to expose network APIs and related resources for fraud prevention, including SIM swap and device swap. These capabilities were aggregated through the Network as Code platform and delivered to the bank’s developers in an A2A format, simplifying access to network intelligence.

Distilled…

🟣 Agentic AI is beginning to shape network API strategy. Industry focus is shifting towards how AI agents might autonomously consume network capabilities such as SIM swap and device intelligence. CAMARA’s recent MCP whitepaper, for instance, details how network APIs can be exposed in a way that aligns with AI-driven application architectures.

🟣 That said, most activity remains exploratory, with limited commercial deployment at scale. Our latest figures have the network API market reaching $8.1 billion by 2030, with the vast majority of that value driven by established, non-agentic API consumption models rather than AI-native orchestration.

🟣 This is a long-term adoption curve. Use case development and implementation involving agentic AI and protocols such as MCP remain at an early stage of maturity. Don't expect AI agents to materially accelerate network API adoption in the near term; instead, agentic AI should be viewed as a strategic, longer-term lever for operators and their channel partners to deepen API utilisation over time.

 

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FINTECH & PAYMENTS

MrBeast Bets on Teen Money Management With Step Acquisition

The world’s most popular YouTuber, Jimmy Donaldson — better known as MrBeast — has officially entered the fintech space. His company, Beast Industries, has acquired Step, a financial literacy and banking app designed for teenagers.

In a post announcing the deal, Donaldson said he wanted to give young people “the financial foundation I never had." Step positions itself as an all-in-one money platform for teens, offering fee-free accounts, credit-building tools and cashback rewards. Its Step EarlyPay feature allows users to access up to $250 of their upcoming paycheque at 0% interest, alongside in-app content covering investing and budgeting basics.

Distilled…

🟣 With around 450 million subscribers and billions of monthly views, MrBeast provides Step with immediate access to a vast, youth-skewed audience. That reach could significantly lower acquisition costs and accelerate brand recognition; potentially positioning Step as an early financial touchpoint for first-time users.

🟣 However, teen fintech is already crowded. Challenger banks such as Monzo and Revolut offer increasingly comprehensive “all-in-one” financial services, including budgeting tools and educational content. Step’s core tools are directionally similar, meaning sustained traction will likely depend on execution, engagement and retention; not simply brand association.

🟣 Step's gamification features could draw regulator scrutiny. Step claims users can “earn over $200 a month simply by playing games” within the app. Regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority have previously examined investment platforms that blur the line between finance and entertainment. Framing financial management as game-based engagement risks encouraging behaviour that prioritises rewards mechanics over long-term financial literacy.

 

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TELECOMS & CONNECTIVITY

Scam Ads Are Surging Across Europe’s Social Platforms

In new research commissioned by Revolut, we've found that scam advertising is surging across Europe’s major social media platforms. Our latest whitepaper assesses how the scale of the issue now demands stronger intervention from platforms — not only to reduce harm to users, but to protect long-term trust in their own ecosystems.

Distilled…

🟣 Nearly 1 trillion scam ad impressions were delivered to European social media users in 2025, representing around 10% of all social media advertising. As platforms continue expanding their user bases, they offer an increasingly attractive channel for scam advertisers, who are deploying more sophisticated tactics to imitate legitimate brands and financial institutions at scale. Europe is forecast to see this figure rise to 1.4 trillion impressions by 2030, meaning exposure will intensify unless structural safeguards are strengthened.

🟣 Our analysis highlights a widening gap between platform commitments and user reality. Public statements around safety and moderation are not translating into meaningful reduction in scam exposure, particularly as AI-generated content makes fraudulent ads more convincing and harder to detect. The whitepaper sets out a practical roadmap for platforms, including greater investment in AI-led detection, improved advertiser verification, transparent reporting on scam ad prevalence, and clearer liability frameworks to ensure accountability.

🟣 The responsibility ultimately sits with the platforms themselves. Social media companies control ad approval systems, targeting infrastructure and content moderation processes — the very mechanisms that enable scam advertising to scale. Without proactive intervention at the ecosystem level, financial harm to users will continue to rise, increasing regulatory pressure and eroding long-term platform trust.

 

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ICYMI

The Last Drop

We can’t fit all our work from the last fortnight in one issue, so here’s a hand-picked selection of blogs, infographics, and insights that deserve your attention.

🤖 Spend on AI agents for customer experience is set to surge by 400%, as enterprises shift from experimentation to embedding autonomous systems directly into support and service workflows.

🏆 Our latest Future Digital Award winners offer a clear signal of where telecoms innovation is heading in 2026 — from AI-driven orchestration to trust and fraud mitigation.

💳 What does it take to lead in modern card issuing? We sat down with i2c's Amir Wain to explore how configurability, scale, and operational resilience are becoming competitive differentiators.

🛒 Fraudulent eCommerce transactions are forecast to exceed $131 billion, as increasingly sophisticated scam tactics push merchants to rethink prevention strategies.

🌍 Our latest infographic maps the world’s largest mobile money markets; highlighting where adoption is deepest, and why.

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