Savers net winnings with lucky seven

Suddenly the figure seven has new significance. If you are looking for a savings account, 7 per cent is the best easy-access rate available now. In a climate where savers are stuck permanently with single-figure interest rates, this top figure comes from Nationwide building society, with its new internet-based account, e-Savings. The rate is guaranteed to stay at least 0.5 per cent above base rate until January. You cannot quite get at your money instantly because it has to be transferred from the savings account, via the net, to a Nationwide current account, although you needn't have your salary paid into it.

But with the attractive interest rate, payable on as little as £1, and the rate guarantee, it's not a bad deal. But only, of course, for savers who have access to the internet. This is another example of superior deals for those with net access over those without.

Nationwide's branch-based rates are better than those of most banks, so it is not the industry's worst offender here. The society also gives access to the net, and its net products, through terminals at branches. But as access to the net spreads, increasing take-up of internet accounts and reducing costs for saving institutions, we should see the benefits trickling out across all savings and mortgage products. As a mutual, Nationwide should lead the way.

It has done well to buck the trend among banks to launch internet operations with wacky new names. But most other banks have good reason for wanting to carve out new identities. Nationwide's record with customers in recent years has been netter than most; it doesn't need to reinvent its brand.

Stockbrokers are not noted for deep thinking over the nature of share-ownership - beyond the best way to spread it to their advantage. Gavin Oldham, founder of Share Centre, is different. He is giving away shares in his business because he believes his customers have a right to them.

There could be ulterior motives; a shareholder base composed of customers may be less demanding than big City institutions. But Oldham's share issue - which is proving popular with clients - is an innovative experiment in corporate ownership.