Raiffeisen Bank offers 18 million customers crypto via Bitpanda

Raiffeisen Bank International, one of Austria’s largest banking groups, is to collaborate with Vienna-based crypto broker Bitpanda. Through this partnership, the bank’s 18 million customers in Central and Eastern Europe will soon be able to buy digital assets. The rollout will take place gradually via the bank’s regional subsidiaries. Bloomberg reports.

In brief:

• Raiffeisen Bank International announces a partnership with crypto broker Bitpanda.
• Around 18 million customers in Central and Eastern Europe will gain access to buying digital assets.
• It is one of the first major initiatives of the new chief executive Michael Hoellerer.

Gradual rollout in Central and Eastern Europe

Raiffeisen and Bitpanda announced the news on Wednesday in a joint statement. The introduction of crypto services will not be implemented all at once, but rolled out gradually across Raiffeisen’s various subsidiaries in the region.

Bitpanda has similar partnerships with other European banks, including German neobank N26. The Austrian regional banks that are among Raiffeisen Bank International’s largest shareholders are also already working with the platform.

One of the first steps by new chief Hoellerer

The partnership is one of the first major steps by Michael Hoellerer as the newly appointed chief executive of Raiffeisen Bank International. Later this month, he is expected to present a broader strategy for the bank.

The move fits into a broader trend in which traditional European banks are making crypto more accessible to their customers. Whether and when the service will also become available in specific countries has not yet been announced.