Abbey National claims to be the first UK high street bank to offer a fund supermarket. The move is part of the bank's strategy to increase its earnings from wealth management and long terms savings.

The service will extend the investment choices currently available through Abbey National, building on the existing Inscape offering and the bank's direct offering of investments from Family Assurance, Liverpool Victoria and Axa Sun Life. FundsCentre will act as a gateway to the UK's leading fund providers, available to investors online at www.abbeynational.co.uk, by telephone and post. Customers can also access the Web site at any of the 75 Abbey National branches offering Internet access.

Customers can use the fund supermarket to analyse, select, compare and track the performance of a range of funds most suited to their individual needs and investment styles. Customers can mix and match funds from different managers and sectors whilst keeping them all within one account. They will also be able to place deals online 24 hours a day. Free independent fund data and commentary is provided online from financial information providers Lipper and Citywire.

There is no minimum investment level, which will open the market to people with smaller amounts to invest and who may not otherwise have the opportunity to access these types of funds. Abbey National says there will be significant discounts for initial charges, which when levied by fund managers are around 5%, but FundsCentre will typically charge 1.25%. This could provide savings of up to £262.50 on a £7000 investment. There are also no extra charges for switching existing fund management to FundsCentre and all transfer and re-registration is free, with administration carried out by Abbey National.

Ambrose McGinn, director of retail e-commerce at Abbey National says: "Abbey National is taking the complication out of investing by providing an easy access, flexible service through a trusted brand name. FundsCentre offers access to impartial information and an extensive selection of market-leading funds. We believe it is the most straightforward fund supermarket available today."