Austrian bank Raiffeisenlandesbank NÖ-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) has expanded its partnership with Bitpanda to a further 55 banks in Burgenland and Lower Austria.

The move comes after RLB NÖ-Wien announced in January that it was expanding its existing partnership with the crypto firm to allow customers to trade digital assets via their mobile banking app.

Through the partnership, customers can invest in cryptocurrency and other digital assets via Bitpanda through RLB NÖ-Wien’s banking app Mein ELBA. The service is aimed at users who want to invest digitally and independently in cryptocurrencies, precious metals and other asset classes

The partnership between the two firms was first announced last year, making RLB NÖ-Wien the first major traditional bank in the European Union to move into digital assets.

Bitpanda said that since the partnership was expanded earlier this, there has been a significant increase in demand for the service.

"A new milestone has been set. With the integration of Bitpanda into the 'Mein ELBA' app, we are one of the first traditional banks in Europe to enable trading in digital assets,” said Rudolf Suttner, chief executive of RLB Burgenland. “With this cooperation, we have succeeded in our vision of creating absolute customer centricity and expanding our offering for our customers.”

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