Macquarie Bank has announced an online marketplace that gives customers the opportunity to choose and instantly redeem discounted eGift cards.

Macquarie Marketplace is available through the Macquarie banking app and online and features discounts of up to 10 per cent off gift cards from over 40 retailers, including Woolworths, Freedom, Myer and Sephora.

“The program allows customers to instantly access e-gift cards that show up in their online banking site and through the Macquarie Mobile Banking app, so they can enjoy their rewards immediately and save money at the same time,” Macquarie’s head of personal banking Ben Perham said.

“[The] marketplace also offers personalised recommendations based on a customer’s spending habits, while also tracking their total savings from using the product.”

The bank is the second payment provider to offer such a service in the last few months, with PayPal recently announcing its own online storefront to allow environmentally conscious customers to purchase digital gift cards in place of plastic.

According to PayPal, Australians waste 140 tonnes of plastic on gift cards each year, with over a quarter of Australians (27 per cent) having not redeemed a plastic gift card in the past year, either because they forgot about it (36 per cent), the card expired (32 per cent) or there was nothing they wanted to use the card on (28 per cent).

“The outmoding of plastic gift cards is just one small step of many towards achieving a future that embraces both technology and sustainability,” PayPal Australia’s consumer marketing strategy and social media lead Emily Curlewis said.

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