5 Things to Start Your Day: Retail Therapy; All-in-One Payments; Pocket MRIs; Rent-a-Tech; Programmable Money

Happy Monday (April 11), and welcome the beginning of another week. Although war and inflation still top the news, when the going gets tough, the tough still go shopping. Here are five things to start your day.

Retail Therapy

Despite fears that the combination of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and record-high inflation would keep shoppers’ purse strings closed, that hasn’t happened. Mastercard SpendingPulse data for March found that retail spending leaped 8.4% year over year and 18% compared with the same period in 2019, excluding auto sales and not adjusted for inflation. READ MORE

All-in-One Payments

Streamlined payments and processes can help small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) futureproof their companies and their bottom lines. The Future of Business Payables Innovation: How New B2B Payment Options Can Transform the Back Office, a PYMNTS and Plastiq collaboration, takes a deep dive into how businesses can adopt a proactive strategy to transform accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) processes and remove friction from B2B payments. READ MORE

Pocket MRIs

DVDs and CDs are largely has-been technology, but the medical field is only now starting to move to digital formats. Innovation solved the problem, as Rishi Nayyar, co-founder and CEO of digital health information firm PocketHealth, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster. Adoption is coming along a little slower. READ MORE

Rent-a-Tech

Global waste from electronics is projected to amount to 120 million tons per year by 2050 if the current trend continues. Berlin-based technology startup Grover is looking to make a difference with its rent-a-tech platform, aimed at creating a circular economy for consumer electronics. READ MORE

Programmable Money

Transactions that use code rather than human interaction to determine how money acts and how it can be used is not just about blockchains and smart contracts with predetermined rules. Fidel API CEO Dev Subrata told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster that all money is programmable. READ MORE