Switzerland’s Postfinance has taken a stake in an online social-trading-platform as it seeks to boost its digital footprint in the country’s banking sector.

The Bern-based Swiss Post subsidiary has taken an 11 percent slice of the Austrian online platform Wikifolio, offering private European traders and professional asset managers the chance to trade exchange listed paper, Postfinance said in a statement on Thursday.

The move is part of its quest to become a «Digital Powerhouse» in the Swiss banking industry, according to Jens Schulte, head of PostFinance’s Corporate Ventures.

1.7 million online customers

Whether customers of the traditionally staid Swiss Post unit are ready to plunge into digital investment waters remains to be seen, though the retailer’s 1.7 million online customers do offer potentially moderate growth in the domestic online market.

Founded in 2012, the platform has since 2015 offered Swiss investors the chance to invest in more than 18,000 Wikifolios and some 6,700 guaranteed Wikifolio-certificates.

Price of transaction not revealed

The euro remains the denominated currency for investment in wikifolio certificates, though the goal is to find a solution allowing trades in franc-denominated paper.

Financial details of the transaction were not revealed.