A Strategic Framework For Blockchain Adoption In Indian Retail Banking: An Integrated TOE–UTAUT Conceptual Perspective

Abstract

Blockchain is moving from novelty to infrastructure in banking, offering an immutable shared record, intermediary-free settlement, and code-enforced rules. Yet in Indian retail banking, adoption still sits mostly inside RBI-driven pilots rather than a considered, bank-by-bank strategy. Building on two earlier studies by the authors — a case study of blockchain use in Indian consumer banking, and a PRISMA review of 44 studies on technological, organizational, and regulatory barriers — this paper integrates the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), since blockchain adoption here unfolds at two levels: the bank first decides whether to adopt, and only then do staff and customers decide whether to use it. Drawing on Scopus-indexed literature, the paper sets out eleven propositions linking technological, organizational, environmental, and behavioural factors to adoption outcomes, with trust, regulatory clarity, and perceived risk playing out distinctively in the Indian setting. The resulting TOE–UTAUT Integrated Adoption Model (TU-IAM) connects firm-level and individual-level adoption research and gives banks, regulators, and vendors a tool for sequencing investment and managing rollout. To demonstrate technical feasibility, the paper also reports BlockBank, a browser-based prototype implementing core blockchain mechanics — cryptographic block linkage, proof-of-work mining, and tamper-evident verification — with sample execution results and response-time measurements. The paper closes with a roadmap for empirical validation and implications for blockchain rollout under RBI oversight.