Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s trip to Mongolia and Central Asia — in which he became the first Japanese leader ever to visit Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkme Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.japantimes.co.jp

Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna is keeping no “sacred cows” as it prepares to sell stakes in 43 large units including energy companies, its deputy head said. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.bloomberg.com

Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.youtube.com

Facebook is reportedly testing “Local Market,” a feature that enables users to buy and sell products though their Messenger app. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

The time for talk is over, the time for shopping is now. And the race is on to wrack up consumer spend. How are the big boys playing it this shopping season? Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

In a rare spate of discounting, Apple has knocked down the price of the Apple Watch. In select locations. For a limited time. For people who buy an iPhone. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

Debate rages on regarding the use of PINs with chip cards. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

Well, it looks like the deal went through after all. Visa will be buying Visa Europe and creating one massive payments player. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

The market is full of solutions to personalize consumer content and up conversions with curated content. Optimizely thinks it can do it better. Can it? Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com

Accenture finds that digital is the most disruptive force in payments. Sourced through Scoop.it from: http://www.pymnts.com