Millions of smart chips were shipped to the U.S. last year, and will soon fight fraud in the debit cards you use every day. Source: http://www.bankrate.com

Idesco, a security systems integrator, has entered a partnership with FST Biometrics, a provider of biometric access control solutions. Source: http://www.thepaypers.com

AmEx said on Thursday the loss of the contract would hurt earnings for the next two years, sending its shares down as much as 7 percent and wiping out about $6 billion of market value. Source: news.yahoo.com

Chinese people used more credit cards last year, fresh evidence that the nation’s traditionally frugal residents are looking for credit cards for everyday purchases. Source: news.xinhuanet.com

Of course, there is fierce competition among natural gas consumers. Though at the current stage, gas supply seems to have exceeded demand, there still exists a scarcity of resources. Source: http://www.globaltimes.cn

The 2015 agriculturalseasonwill be marked byglobal changesin the agricultural sector, according to the Kazakh Ministryof Agriculture. Expectations are that the state will increase its support of the sector in the current year. Source: http://www.astanatimes.com

World Bank’s technical assistance helped Kazakhstan reform the secondary education student assessment system. Source: http://www.worldbank.org

On both the economic and diplomatic fronts, the difficulties of 2014 have not gone away. Source: thediplomat.com

Georgia can be gateway for Hungarian businesses in Central-AsiaPolitics.huGeorgia can serve as a gateway for Hungarian companies seeking to invest in Central Asia, the Foreign Ministry’s parliamentary state secretary said. Source: http://www.politics.hu

This #Landsat image features the heart-shaped section of the Large Aral Sea in Central Asia #HappyValentinesDay pic.twitter.com/eIk67mbxrM Source: twitter.com