Raiffeisen Bank International has struck a group-wide crypto partnership with Austrian broker Bitpanda. The service is already live in Austria, and the bank estimates the rollout could eventually reach about 18 million customers across 11 markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are next in line, with launches planned for the first half of 2027.
What the partnership covers
RBI, a large Austrian banking group with a network of subsidiary banks across Central and Eastern Europe, will give customers access to buying and selling crypto directly through their regular banking apps. Bitpanda handles the technical infrastructure and licensing, so RBI itself doesn't need to build a crypto platform from scratch. For customers, it will feel like an ordinary banking feature: buying crypto in the same app that already holds their salary card, with no separate exchange sign-up required.
RBI CEO Michael Höllerer attributed the move to growing customer demand for digital assets across the group's markets.
"As a customer-centric bank, we are committed to meeting our customers' needs in the best possible way."
- Michael Höllerer, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International, from the bank's statement on the Bitpanda partnership
Where it launches, and when
Crypto services through Bitpanda are currently available only in Austria. An RBI spokesperson told Cointelegraph the rollout to Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will begin in the first half of 2027. The company hasn't disclosed a timeline for the remaining markets on its list. The staggered rollout comes down to a simple reason: each country requires separate sign-off from its own financial regulator, even under MiCA's shared rulebook.
RBI's network also includes Raiffeisen Bank in Ukraine, one of the country's largest lenders. It doesn't appear on the announced rollout list yet, so any timeline for the Ukrainian unit remains unclear.
Who is Bitpanda
Bitpanda, a Vienna-based fintech broker founded in 2014, lets users trade crypto, stocks, ETFs and precious metals in one app and operates under a license aligned with the EU's MiCA framework. For banks, it's a ready-made, already-licensed partner, which makes integration faster than building a platform from scratch. Its customer base is mostly retail investors who previously bought crypto separately from their main bank account.
Bitpanda already supplies crypto infrastructure to several European financial institutions under their own brands. By audience size, the RBI deal ranks among the company's largest partnerships to date.
Where it fits among Europe's banks
European banks are increasingly turning to licensed crypto brokers instead of building in-house, especially since the MiCA framework set uniform rules for crypto services across the EU. That lowers regulatory risk and speeds up launches. KursLog has previously covered how European banks are expanding their crypto footprint while regulators hold back some of the market's biggest players.
For RBI, the Bitpanda deal is a way to keep customers who might otherwise turn to standalone crypto exchanges for digital assets. The next steps, namely a firm schedule for the remaining nine markets and early demand figures from Austria, haven't been disclosed.
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