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Cruise Money showcases India’s first agentic card – an AI money companion that plans, decides & pays on the user’s behalf

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At Global Fintech Fest 2026, Cruise Money previewed a card that doesn’t just spend within a limit – it decides how to spend, executed through a single chat-based consent flow.

MUMBAI, India, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cruise Money has showcased an agentic payments card that turns its AI money companion into a full money manager — one that optimises a user’s investments, plans their purchases, and now executes them, within limits and guardrails the user sets once in a single conversational flow.

The agentic card involves a virtual prepaid card that will be issued by LivQuik Technology (India) Private Limited, and was shown for the first time at Global Fintech Fest 2026 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. While LivQuik is the card issuer, M2P Fintech is the technology partner providing the API infrastructure.

Beyond spend limits: a card that makes the money decision for the user

Most agentic payment products announced globally over the past eighteen months share the same design: a user types a number, and the AI spends up to it. Cruise Money goes further on two fronts. First, the limit itself isn’t guessed — it’s calculated. Cruise’s Safe to Spend figure is derived continuously from a user’s income, committed bills, EMIs, investments, emergency reserves and savings goals. Second, and new to this: once a budget and guardrails are set, the agent doesn’t just spend within them — it decides how. The Cruise agentic card layer is being built to orchestrate each payment across a user’s permitted funding sources, choosing whichever mix produces the best outcome for that person — cash flow preserved or rewards optimised, depending on what matters most to them. At preview, the card runs on a single prepaid funding source, with multi-source orchestration to follow as approvals allow.

“The interesting question was never whether an AI could complete a payment. It was whether it should — and increasingly, how,” said Vinay Bharathwaj, Founder & CEO, Cruise Money. “Most agentic cards are handed a budget by a person who is guessing. Ours works the budget out from what’s actually in the account, what’s already committed and what the person is saving toward — and then thinks the way a good money manager would: how to use credit, how to use debit, when to hold back. Over time, the line between one kind of card and another stops mattering, because the card itself is deciding. That’s the agentic card — spending is the easy part; the decision-making is the product.” 

One conversation, one consent, every purchase. The entire experience runs through a single chat-based flow. A user tells Cruise what they want — set a monthly budget, allocate money toward a goal, book a flight, order groceries — and Cruise proposes a mandate: an amount, a category, a validity period, and an approval threshold. The user approves it once, in that same conversation.

A virtual card is then issued that only that agent can use, only within those boundaries. From there, the agent can act across a growing range of use cases beyond recurring bills and goal-based saving, including:

Flight and hotel bookingsGrocery and everyday essentials orderingRecurring subscriptions and utility payments

Every transaction is bound to a registered agent identity, and the demonstrated flow includes an explicit stop: when a purchase would draw against a user’s savings goal, the agent declines and returns to the user rather than proceeding.

“As the regulated issuer behind this card, our focus is on making sure agent-initiated payments are held to the same standard as any other transaction — the agent is certified, its intent is matched against authentication, and every action leaves an auditable trail. We’re glad to partner with Cruise Money on a product that treats those controls as the foundation, not an afterthought,” Bhargav Padh, Chief Executive Officer, LivQuik Technology (India) Private Limited said. 

“Agentic commerce represents the next major evolution of digital payments. As AI agents become trusted participants in commerce, the industry needs payment infrastructure that combines autonomy with safety, transparency, and control. This preview demonstrates how regulated financial institutions, fintechs, networks, and technology providers can work together to make autonomous commerce a reality,” said Prabhu Rangarajan, Co-founder, M2P.

The demonstration at Global Fintech Fest showed journeys running from a single user-approved mandate — a recurring everyday purchase and a purchase made toward a savings goal — both executed by the user’s agent with consent on the same card, within the same boundary, with the funding decision handled automatically in the background. The agentic card is awaiting regulatory approvals before its public rollout. Access will be extended to waitlist members in phases.

To explore more – www.cruise.money.

About Cruise Money

Cruise Money is an AI-first personal finance platform that aggregates, analyses and interprets an individual’s complete financial picture. Cruise is an AI money companion built for Indian investors who want a smarter relationship with their money — one that gets to know their finances, talks them through in plain language, and now, with their consent, acts on their behalf to optimize how they invest, save and spend.

Cruise Money was founded by Vinay Bharathwaj, with Ganesh KV and Vikrant Mudaliar as Co-founders. Cruise uses the RBI-regulated Account Aggregator framework and read-only access to financial data. Cruise Money is a consumer brand owned and operated by NeuralFin Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

For more details, visit www.cruise.money

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Protean launches Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at Global Fintech Fest

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MUMBAI, India, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Protean eGov Technologies today launched its Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai. The platform was launched at the Protean pavilion by Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, who spoke at the event on consent as a design principle for India’s digital financial ecosystem.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 has moved decisively from statute to operation. With the DPDP Rules notified in November 2025 and substantive obligations enforceable from May 2027, organisations are required to demonstrate privacy governance that is continuous, auditable and evidenced.

At the centre of the platform is the consent stack. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are embedded directly within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile and assisted channels, so a customer never leaves the journey they are in. When consent is granted, updated or withdrawn, the policy engine validates the request, propagates it automatically to every mapped enterprise application and third-party processor, tracks acknowledgement, and writes an immutable artefact to the consent vault – producing regulator-ready evidence from the customer’s action itself rather than from a subsequent reconciliation exercise.

The platform brings the eight statutory obligations of a Data Fiduciary into a single operating system for privacy, organised across four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance covers data discovery, the Record of Processing Activities, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance covers Data Protection Impact Assessments, a central processor registry, third-party risk assessment and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance covers consent management, a rights management portal, grievance redress and dedicated workflows for minors and nominees. Regulatory Operations covers retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Speaking at the launch, Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, said: “The Digital Personal Data Protection Act moves consent from a matter of paperwork to a matter of design. For the financial sector, the task ahead is to make consent verifiable, revocable and auditable at scale – so that every individual knows what data is being used, for what purpose, and retains the ability to withdraw that permission at any time.”

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Ajay Rajan, MD & CEO, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Consent is becoming the connective tissue of India’s digital economy. Our conviction is that privacy and growth are not opposing forces – an enterprise that can show an individual exactly what was permitted, when, and for how long, earns the trust that lets it do more, not less. That is the shift we are enabling: from privacy as a legal obligation to privacy as an enterprise capability.”

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Rakesh Dosi, Chief Business & Product Officer, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Most enterprises today can tell you their privacy policy. Very few can tell you, for a single customer, what was consented to and which downstream system acted on it. One customer action should update every mapped system and leave behind evidence – that is what we have built.”

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades. As an Account Aggregator licence holder, the company brings direct operating experience of the consent artefact lifecycle – issuance, revocation and secure data sharing – at national scale. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

To know more – https://www.proteantech.in/services/consent-stack 

Product note

Protean Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform

Launched at the Global Fintech Fest, 11ᵗʰ September 2026, Mumbai

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is no longer a policy exercise. The Rules were notified in November 2025, the Consent Manager registration framework comes into force in November 2026, and substantive obligations become enforceable from May 2027 with penalties of up to ₹250 crore. Multiple stakeholders – the Data Principal, the Consent Manager, processors, third-party vendors, internal business functions and the Data Protection Board – converge on a single accountable owner: the Data Fiduciary. Every one of those connections is an obligation to design, run and evidence.

Embedded consent experience. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are deployed within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile, branch, contact centre and partner channels. Consent is captured against the five principles of validity – freely given, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous – with itemised notice and unbundled purposes. Customers never leave the journey they are in.

Intelligent consent orchestration. A single customer action – consent granted, updated or withdrawn – is validated by the policy engine, propagated automatically to every mapped enterprise application and processor with acknowledgement tracked, and recorded instantly as an immutable artefact in the consent vault. Compliance evidence is a by-product of the transaction, not a separate exercise.

Four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance – data discovery, ROPA, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance – DPIA, third-party risk management, processor registry and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance – consent management, rights management portal, grievance management, minor and nominee workflows. Regulatory Operations – retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Regulatory automation. Retention runs on configurable, purpose-based timelines with automated deletion triggers, propagation to processors and retained deletion evidence. Breach management runs from incident intake and severity classification through a 72-hour notification workflow and regulator communication to root cause analysis and closure.

Relationship-based workflows. Verifiable guardian consent before any processing of a minor’s personal data, with age validation and transition on attaining majority. Nominee registration with identity validation and controlled, auditable rights access upon a defined invocation event.

One source of truth. Discover, map, design, orchestrate, evidence – every downstream privacy activity is derived from verified enterprise metadata rather than manual configuration, on a governance foundation of a policy engine, workflow orchestration, an API gateway, the consent vault and an immutable audit trail.

A six-stage path to compliance maturity runs from data discovery and ROPA through data flow mapping, DPIA and processor assessment, and gap remediation, to continuous privacy operations – combining advisory, governance, process design and technology enablement in a single engagement.

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades, is an Account Aggregator licence holder with proven experience of the consent artefact lifecycle, and has implemented consent management capabilities for initiatives including Bima Sugam and CERSAI. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

About Protean:

Incorporated in December 1995, Protean eGov Technologies Limited is engaged in the business of developing citizen-centric and population-scale e-governance solutions. Protean is an information technology-enabled solutions company conceptualizing, developing, and executing critical and population-scale greenfield technology solutions. The company collaborates with the Indian government and has extensive experience in creating digital public infrastructure and developing innovative citizen-centric e-governance solutions.

 

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Envision Energy Unveils EN-252/16.7 Offshore Wind Turbine to Deliver High Performance and Reliability in High-Wind Environments

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HAMBURG, Germany, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Envision Energy, a global leader in green technology, launched the EN-252/16.7, its next-generation offshore wind turbine developed for high-wind environments and tailored to the requirements of international offshore markets. With 16.7 MW rated power, a high-performance rotor and an integrated powertrain, the new turbine is designed to deliver higher energy production, greater reliability and increased project ROI.

The EN-252/16.7 builds on Envision’s proven Model Z platform and more than a decade of offshore wind development and operational experience. The Model Z platform has been in operation since 2023, providing a foundation of operating data and engineering experience for the next generation of offshore turbines. The international EN-252/16.7 is tailored with a Europe-specific high-performance rotor and is being developed through extensive component- and system-level validation. The turbine combines high-capacity generation with vertically integrated key component technologies, advanced safety and grid capabilities, and AI-powered lifecycle monitoring through Envision’s Galileo system.

Christian Schrimpf, Executive Vice President of Offshore Wind at Envision Energy, said: “The next phase of offshore wind is not simply about increasing turbine scale. The real value of scale lies in how effectively it translates into higher energy production, greater reliability and stronger economics across the project lifecycle. With the EN-252/16.7, we are bringing these capabilities together to help customers capture more value from offshore wind over the long term.”

Higher Performance for increased project ROI

With 16.7 MW rated power and a swept-area-to-power ratio of approximately 2.99 square meters per kilowatt, the EN-252/16.7 is designed to increase energy production from high-wind offshore resources. For a gigawatt-scale offshore wind farm, the turbine can deliver approximately 1-2% higher annual energy production while reducing turbine quantity by around 10% compared with currently available turbines, contributing to an estimated 2-4% reduction in levelized cost of energy (LCOE), depending on site conditions and project configuration. For suitable site-specific conditions, the turbine can also be uprated, creating further potential to reduce turbine numbers and capital expenditure for the project (CAPEX).

Proven Engineering for Long-Term Reliability

The EN-252/16.7 is supported by extensive component- and system-level validation through Envision’s in-house testing facilities. Testing includes drivetrain system loading tests and more than 600 hours of highly accelerated life testing for drivetrain, helping capture component boundaries and system interactions under demanding operating conditions.

Reliability is further supported by Envision’s vertically integrated approach to the development and manufacturing of key components. The company has accumulated experience across approximately 12,000 gearboxes, 12,000 main-bearing sets, 25,000 blade sets, 23,000 generators and 28,000 converters.

Safety and Resilience in Extreme Conditions

The EN-252/16.7 is designed to support safe and resilient operation under demanding offshore conditions, including extreme wind events, withstanding a 10-minute average extreme wind speed of up to 58.5 m/s and a three-second gust once in 50-year of up to 82 m/s. Safety is further supported by the turbines integration capability with energy storage. Combined with Envision BESS, the system can provide long-duration backup power for critical turbine devices and safety-related functions when external grid power is unavailable, including during pre-commissioning and severe storm or typhoon conditions.

The turbine further incorporates grid-forming control, black-start capability and stable operation under weak-grid and grid-fault conditions. Autonomous operating capabilities further support continuous power supply to critical turbine systems when conventional grid support is disrupted, extending resilience from extreme-weather protection to electrical and operational continuity.

AI-Powered Lifecycle Optimization

The EN-252/16.7 extends reliability into turbine operation through Envision’s AI-driven Galileo system, which supports earlier fault detection and more proactive maintenance throughout the turbine lifecycle. Commercially applied across more than 20,000 turbines since 2020, Galileo uses more than 30 functional models to monitor major components and critical failure modes, providing early-warning reports approximately one to six months in advance per different conditions

Earlier fault detection supports more timely maintenance planning, helping reduce unplanned interventions and lifecycle operating expenditure (OPEX). The turbine also includes an AI-turbine interface to support future upgrades and the continued evolution of intelligent turbine operations.

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SOURCE Envision Energy

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WhalesBot Launches EliteMind, Bringing Physical AI Into STEM & AI Education

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Powered by W-Hong LLM, EliteMind lets students take AI models and programs from digital learning into real-world sensing, reasoning and action.

SHANGHAI, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WhalesBot, a global leader in STEM and AI education, has announced EliteMind, a modular Physical AI robot designed to bring AI learning into the physical world for elementary and middle school students. With EliteMind, students can develop their own models and programs in WhalesBot’s learning platform, then deploy them directly for testing and hands-on experimentation, turning digital AI projects into tangible, interactive experiences.

Powered by W-Hong LLM, WhalesBot’s AI model built for STEM and AI education, EliteMind brings perception, reasoning, and physical action together in a complete Physical AI loop. It integrates intent recognition, voice interaction, visual understanding, and AI-powered creation with physical control, giving students a hands-on way to understand how AI works in the physical world. Its lightweight, modular design allows sensors and actuators to be combined across different robotic configurations, enabling students to build and explore a range of real-world AI applications.

EliteMind connects with OceanLevel, WhalesBot’s AI literacy learning platform, to bridge structured AI learning and hands-on practice in the physical world. Within this system, WhalesBot OceanLevel provides age-appropriate AI courses, AI tools, model training, and programming, while EliteMind brings what students learn and build in the digital environment into the real world for practice, testing, and feedback. Together, they bring AI understanding, digital creation, and hands-on practice into one continuous learning experience.

“As AI increasingly operates in real-world systems, AI education also needs to move beyond the screen,” said Xufeng Fei, CEO of WhalesBot, who has advocated for STEM and AI education for decades. “With EliteMind, we aim to support a learning journey from foundational AI literacy to hands-on practice and competition, helping students build practical AI skills step by step.”

The launch of EliteMind further strengthens WhalesBot’s growing portfolio of AI products powered by W-Hong LLM and adds a new physical dimension to its STEM & AI Learning Ecosystem. Looking ahead, WhalesBot will continue to develop new ways to help students move from understanding AI to building with it and applying it in the real world.

For more information about EliteMind and the WhalesBot STEM & AI Learning Ecosystem, visit https://www.whalesbot.ai/

About WhalesBot

WhalesBot Technology, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, provides STEM and AI education solutions for learners aged 3 to 22, with more than 1 million units sold in over 81 countries and regions. WhalesBot also sponsors ENJOY AI, an international STEM and robotics competition built around creative robotics and coding challenges.

Connect with WhalesBot:

LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

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SOURCE WhalesBot

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