AuctionBytes' David Steiner reports on his latest experiences buying online - using a shopping list of 10 items - at several ecommerce sites including eBay Express, Amazon, Overstock and Google Checkout. Some of his findings include not being able to pay with PayPal on Overstock even though it's promoted on the site, that eBay Express recently increased the number of sellers you can shop at in a single checkout from 5 to 10, and, while he likes Google Checkout, he'd really prefer to shop from multiple sellers and do a single checkout.

Julie Forster writes for the Twin Cities Pioneer Press that locally based companies Ingenix and Fair Isaac are each working on technology to help identify false claims that contribute to skyrocketing health-insurance costs. She reports that "at Ingenix headquarters in Eden Prairie, 220 doctors, nurses, mathematicians, lawyers, former law-enforcement officers and others work to detect scams and abuse. The company is working with ID Analytics, an identify-fraud company based in San Diego, to develop the technology."

David Lazarus writes for the San Francisco Chronicle about the infuriating card activation process currently in use by Bank of America for activating a debit card after receiving it in the mail. Lazarus - who also reports that the bank says it's now in the process of changing the irritating experience - describes the sales pitches the bank has inserted in its activation process designed to sell new cardholders on subscribing to an identity theft protection or extended-warranty service. What's particularly irritating about the bank's current process is that it doesn't provide any quick and easy mechanism (e.g. press "#" to skip this) to just get the %^&*$ card activated and be done.

Francine Brevetti writes for InsideBayArea.com about the growth in the remittance market - estimated to have reached $256 billion in transfers in 2005 and growing at more than 10 percent annually. Brevetti examines how banks have, over the last several years, been competing more effectively with the major players like Western Union and Moneygram.