Fibank Partners With Bitpanda to Launch Integrated Mobile App Crypto Trading in Bulgaria

Fibank has partnered with Bitpanda to integrate crypto asset trading directly into its My Fibank mobile application, making it the first Bulgarian bank to offer such services. This move signals a significant shift in Eastern European retail banking, as traditional institutions increasingly bridge the gap between regulated banking and the volatile digital asset market.

What was announced

Fibank (First Investment Bank) and Bitpanda GmbH have entered into a strategic partnership agreement to provide the bank's customers with direct technical access to premium crypto asset services. The integration allows users to trade, track, and manage digital assets within the My Fibank mobile app, alongside their traditional financial portfolios. This technical integration is designed to empower customers to optimize their digital holdings within a single, familiar application.

The service is available 24/7 and features a low entry barrier with a minimum investment threshold of just €1. Access to these services is subject to a straightforward application process and approval by Bitpanda, an Austria-based, fully licensed crypto asset service provider. The bank has explicitly noted that these digital products differ from traditional deposits and financial instruments, carrying no guarantees or compensation schemes, and has encouraged customers to familiarize themselves with the inherent risks.

This collaboration positions Fibank as the first credit institution in Bulgaria to offer integrated crypto trading. By leveraging Bitpanda’s infrastructure, the bank aims to transform its mobile application into a comprehensive digital financial environment that provides unified access to banking, savings, and investment solutions. The partnership targets Fibank's customer base of more than one million users, providing them with a regulated gateway to the crypto market through a banking experience they already trust.

"Customer financial habits are evolving rapidly, and it is vital for My Fibank to innovate alongside them. The partnership with Bitpanda is a natural next step in the development of the application as a digital platform through which customers can conveniently use an ever-wider range of financial solutions. For us, it is particularly important that this new opportunity is being realized alongside an established European technology partner and in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements,"

Nikola Bakalov, CEO and Chairman of the MB at First Investment Bank.

The companies involved

Bitpanda is a prominent European digital asset platform headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Since its inception, the company has focused on making investing accessible and secure, evolving into a major player in the fintech space. Through its Bitpanda Enterprise arm, the firm provides the necessary infrastructure and technology for traditional financial institutions to offer digital asset services to their own clients. Bitpanda has maintained a strong presence in the European market, often positioning itself as a regulatory-compliant alternative to offshore exchanges, and has been a frequent subject of industry analysis.

First Investment Bank, commonly known as Fibank, is a significant financial institution in Bulgaria. It operates as a universal bank, providing a wide range of services to retail and corporate clients. Fibank has historically positioned itself as a technologically advanced player in the Bulgarian market, focusing on digital transformation and mobile banking solutions. The bank’s move into the crypto space via its My Fibank application reflects a strategy to capture the growing demand for diversified investment products within a single, secure digital channel, serving over a million customers in the region.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Bitpanda’s expansion across the European banking sector. We recently reported on how Bitpanda Enterprise and Fibank Partner to Bring Crypto Investing to 1 Million Bulgarian Customers. This follows a broader trend of institutional adoption in the region, as seen when Bitpanda and Raiffeisen Bank International Scale Crypto Services to 18 Million Customers Across CEE. Additionally, the company has seen significant leadership changes at the top level, with Bitpanda Appointing Christian Trummer as Co-CEO Ahead of Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad’s 2027 Departure.

What this means

This partnership highlights the maturing relationship between traditional banking and the crypto industry in the European Union. By integrating Bitpanda’s infrastructure, Fibank is effectively de-risking the entry into digital assets for its customers while maintaining the "walled garden" of its own mobile ecosystem. For the wider industry, this move puts pressure on other regional banks in Central and Eastern Europe to offer similar investment products or risk losing retail capital to third-party exchanges. The central question remains whether the convenience of a unified banking app will outweigh the inherent risks of crypto assets, which lack the traditional safety nets of deposit insurance and compensation schemes.