Austria’s RLB NÖ-Wien Bank Allows Crypto Trading Using Bitpanda Tech

Austrian cooperative bank Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) is allowing clients to trade digital assets via their banking apps using Bitpanda infrastructure starting from today.

Bitpanda says that a large traditional bank such as RLB NÖ-Wien embracing digital assets is a “major milestone” for the crypto industry.

Vienna-based RLB NÖ-Wien is a group of organized cooperative banks part of the Raiffeisen Bankengruppe of independent cooperative banks. Customers of the bank will be able to trade over 2,000 assets including cryptocurrencies, stocks, ETFs and precious metals from within their existing banking app, said Bitpanda.

“The joint offering with Bitpanda responds to the continuously increasing demand for digital investment solutions and is the consistent implementation of our strategy of absolute customer focus,” said Michael Höllerer, CEO of RLB NÖ-Wien in a press release. “Through this collaboration, we position ourselves as innovators and also make a strong statement in the financial market,” adds Höllerer.

The integration of the new application will allow retail customers to invest directly from their bank account. The whole operation was achieved in just ten months, said Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, CEO of Bitpanda Technology Solutions.

Raiffeisen Bank Hints in 2023 of Crypto Trading Plans

Last year, Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank hinted it was set to launch crypto trading services in 2024, joining a slew of European banks breaking into the digital asset custody business.

The 130-year-old bank announced plans for the service in April upon signing a letter of intent to collaborate on the offering with crypto trading platform Bitpanda. At the time, the bank claimed it would be the first traditional credit union in the European Union (EU) to include crypto within its digital investment offering.

Bitpanda was launched back in 2014 with a focus on enabling traditional banks and Fintechs to launch stock, exchange-traded funds, and crypto custody services within a regulated venue.