Raiffeisen is expanding the integration of digital assets directly into familiar banking services for customers across Central and Eastern Europe. Bitpanda is the project’s technology partner.
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and Bitpanda expanded their strategic digital asset partnership to Central and Eastern European markets. The agreement provides for a unified infrastructure that will allow RBI Group banks to gradually introduce cryptocurrency services.
The new agreement expands the Bitpanda and RBI partnership from individual banks to the entire banking group. Bitpanda Enterprise, the company’s institutional division, will provide the technology infrastructure. RBI banks will be able to use it to integrate digital asset transactions into their services.
The rollout will take place in stages. The specific range of services and launch timelines will be determined separately for each market, taking into account local demand, regulation, and other country-specific factors.
RBI operates in 11 markets across Central and Eastern Europe, serving more than 18 million customers through around 1,300 branches.
Raiffeisen Bank International CEO Michael Höllerer attributed the expanded partnership to growing customer interest in crypto assets across the bank’s markets. He said RBI intends to meet this demand with the support of a reliable specialized partner.
Bitpanda co-founder and co-CEO Christian Trummer said the partnership is intended to combine the reach and trust of traditional banking with digital asset technology. He said the solution, initially implemented in Austria, can now scale to reach millions of customers across the region.
The companies’ collaboration in this area began in Austria. In 2024, Raiffeisen Landesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) became the first traditional bank in the European Union to give customers access to crypto assets directly through its existing banking environment, with technology provided by Bitpanda.
