As Mercado Libre grows by leaps and bounds in the financial business, banks offset that incursion by adding millionaire sales revenue in their virtual stores or "marketplaces."The old booklet that they previously sent to their customers with a handful of items to redeem for points then gave way to a virtual catalog of a benefits program. It continued to evolve and today it already proposes the most varied range of products -like any other ecommerce site-, but with an advantage that Argentina is passionate about: interest-free fees, a key card in a context of high-level rates.Although for now the objective with these stores is to retain users, the truth is that the websites of some entities are already among the 20 e-commerce portals that most invoice in the country. "Just as Mercado Libre wants to fight in the banking business, the banks have gotten into the retail business. The borders are moving," a local banker graphs.In that sense, some of those that were launched fully into the world of ecommerce are:- ICBC, with ICBC Mall- Orange Card, with Orange Store- Supervielle, with Supervielle Store- BIND Banco Industrial, with TiendaJubilo- The City, with City Store- Petersen Group banks, with Click StoreAll these marketplace have similar characteristics to e-commerce sites, with a great variety of models per product and a range of offers in different areas.Then there is another group of entities that go along the same path although they have a more limited range of proposals, although with exclusive benefits aimed at their customers. In this platoon are located:- El Galicia, with its points system I want- HSBC, with the Rewards Program- Macro, with MacroPremia- Columbia Bank, with Columbia StoreAmong others. "When we saw that the catalog of printed products lacked relevance - 97% of our customers receive the summary digitally - we aimed to digitize all the information and that scheme was evolving. First as ICBC Store, and now as ICBC Mall" , explains Federico Martínez Minué, manager of Commercial Alliances and Loyalty of ICBC, one of the banks that most exploits its virtual store.So much so that ICBC Mall is now a true marketplace for all bank customers: the corporate ones - who are the only ones able to offer their products in the store - and retailers - who are the ones who can buy the more than 62,000 goods and services plus the proposals of 13 tourism companies."We hope to conclude this 2019 with revenues of 2,000 million pesos," Martínez Minué said in a dialogue with iProUP.As much as the figure, its evolution matters, given that it is triple the $ 700 million of 2018, when on the supply side there were only 50 companies, far from the more than 200 that today exhibit their products in that window.With those numbers, in addition, ICBC Mall is located as one of the 20 largest ecommerce sites in the country, behind giants such as Mercado Libre, Jumbo, Coto, Falabella and some tourism companies.Strictly speaking, he says, the site begins to become a platform for attracting new users who value the differential offered by the Chinese capital bank.One of the pioneers in the development of a marketplace was Naranja, the Cordoba firm that with more than 9 million credit cards is the main issuer of plastics in the country."In 2018, we recorded a turnover of $ 350 million in Tienda Naranja. The number of customers that operated increased 85% year-on-year and the volume of units sold grew 42%," says Nicolás Alsina, New Business Manager, who adds that they have more than 50,000 Products available in the store. According to the executive, the strategy responds to the search to expand its offer of products and services outside the financial industry."A renewed version will be available this year with multiple promotions and benefits aimed at meeting the needs of not only the company's customers but also any user, who will be able to trade with all credit and debit cards," says Alsina. This move that Orange prepares will mark a differential with respect to most banks, which only allow purchases from their customers.It is the case of the City, in May launched its marketplace and in the first 45 days sold more than 2,000 units and billed $ 20 million pesos. "We combine aggressive prices, interest-free fees and free shipping," they say from the Buenos Aires entity."Our digital card allows non-customers to request one online and make purchases in the store in installments and without interest," they said in the City, where they already have more than 8,000 items to offer and an average of 120 suppliers in their On-line shop.Another bank that joined the marketplace experience this year was the BIND Industrial Bank, with TiendaJubilo, opened in March and still in the initial phase."It is an assisted e-commerce, because it is carried out in the BIND branches with the commercials of TiendaJubilo. The public accesses the catalog although it still cannot operate," explains Ramón Menalled, CEO of TiendaJubilo, who adds: "Soon we will enable access and we will incorporate the payment with card ". The firm projects sales between $ 200 and $ 250 million annually.Something more than loyaltyFrom the City they point out that although the store was initially designed to retain users, now the focus was extended to adding new ones. "The percentage of profit arises from the entrance of the tariff and the interest rates that we will add shortly," they comment.Meanwhile, from Orange they explain that all the products and services that run outside the core of the entity (including Orange Store) already represent 12% of the total turnover of the company and that number continues to rise.The HSBC, for its part, preferred to put all the chips in innovating its benefits and rewards program instead of transforming it into a marketplace."We understand that many Argentines were attracted to virtual stores. We will take a similar path but with innovations aimed at providing ease and instantaneous operations," says Yuri Muchenik, HSBC segment director in dialogue with iProUP."We undertook several developments that some banks are not implementing. We are moving forward with the campaign 'Your points are pesos' so that our customers acquire what they want instead of conditioning them to a certain window," says Muchenik.Thus, with points, your customers can exchange them for pesos to buy products at stores in the airports of Ezeiza and Aeroparque, at the Dutty Free location or even to pay for parking at those terminals.The HSBC executive advances that they are about to relaunch "new modalities that satisfy the need for spontaneity and diversity of proposals, where the client himself designs his design".In the Macro, meanwhile, they emphasize that their MacroPremia benefits program combines products from a marketplace with the best financing conditions, discounts or bonuses of a profit club."The objective is to reward and reward. In this way, we do not frame it as a business unit but as an integral program in which the client is the one who generates savings, income or benefits," says Milagro Medrano, Manager of Institutional Relations and Care to Banco Macro Client.As he details, the bank plans to end 2019 with 1 million transactions, thus doubling the number of MacroPremia customers for the second consecutive year.The entities agree that the most sought after products are cell phones, televisions and appliances. In the Macro, in addition, they also use many points to recharge cell phone balance and SUBE card.The interest-free installments, ranging from 6 to 12 months, are the main added value of the bank's virtual stores, compared to approximately 80% annual rates proposed by other e-commerce to finance purchases. It requires its contract sellers that the price of the products cannot be higher than what they publish on their own sales site.Banks begin to see in their stores a way for people to value the investment involved in aggressive discounts or interest-free fees. The reasoning is that, with such a wide range of sales in the market, the public may not be fully aware of the effort made by the entity. "He arrives at the cashier, asks with which bank he can pay less that day, uses that card and maybe later doesn't remember who gave him the benefit," explains an executive."Since the bank is so expensive to keep the promises of interest-free installments and discounts, we plan to participate more in the customer's choice and purchase. And that we wanted to convey: to say that he bought it through the bank, passing through the portal, with the card and our benefits ", contributes, in the same line, Martínez Minué, of ICBC.However, entities will continue to seek profitability in their mother business, financial intermediation. The virtual stores serve to strengthen links, attract new customers and differentiate themselves from the competition.In that context, they are winning a portion of a market that in 2018 moved almost $ 230,000 million, according to data from the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE). And, in its own way, it is also a small rematch against the company of Marcos Galperin while reinforcing their claims for the Central Bank and the AFIP to level the court.