Risk management in Islamic banking: the impact of financial technologies through empirical insights from the UAE

Financial technology (fintech) innovations are transforming banking globally. Their adoption poses new opportunities and risks for Islamic banks with unique requirements. This study examines fintech's implications for risk management effectiveness in United Arab Emirates Islamic banks. A conceptual model incorporates factors like fintech adoption, emerging capabilities, digital maturity, and IT security influencing outcomes. Primary data were collected via survey from nine UAE Islamic banks and analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results show that fintech adoption and capabilities positively impacted effectiveness, while digital transformation alone did not. The findings also show that the regulatory environment did not moderate relationships as hypothesized. The findings provide empirical evidence on optimizing risk management through responsible fintech enablement and oversight alignment in the UAE context.