There is fast growth of digital banking services in Saudi Arabia clearly shows the necessity of well-considered legal decisions. However, there is an obscurity with respect to protecting consumers’ rights and creating a reliable atmosphere for digital finance through legal framework in the digital banking sector in the Kingdom. The primary aims and objectives of this research is to scrutinize the digital banking consumers’ protection legal framework being overseen in Saudi Arabia, analyzing its content, mechanisms, and impact on different stakeholders. Similarly, the study tires to determine its efficacy as well as identify the roadblocks which can prevent its success. Through an extensive review and examination, the evaluation defines key issues, difficulties and finalizes statements about the legal field. The content analysis methodology was used to help address issues emanating from the existing literature. Various scholarly articles, policy documents, and regulatory guidelines were explored. In other words, data for this study were collected through different search sources such as journals, traditional articles of Google Scholar, policy documents, and library sources. A total of 25 articles were explored and contributed immensely to unveiling various aspects of the legal framework of digital banking as well as consumers’ protection in the Kingdom. The findings of this investigation have identified three basic themes on the domestic legal regulation of consumers’ protection in the digital banking system in Saudi Arabia. First, the study has analyzed various legislations such as: consumer protection law, sector-specific regulations, among others concerning the rights and duties of consumer protection. Second, legal obligations in seeking remedies when there is a discriminatory treatment in digital banking services. Third, it has been established that Saudi Arabia have taken a proactive step towards a robust safety cushion to protect the consumer rights and minimizing the risks involved in cybersecurity in the context of Saudi Arabia. Theoretically, on one hand, the study highlights the paramount significance to consumers’ protection legislations in the Kingdom. On the other hand, practically, the Kingdom’s witness of rapid economic growth and technological advancement, ensuring robust consumer protection measures becomes increasingly paramount to foster trust, promote fair business practices, and enhance consumer confidence in the marketplace. Nonetheless, some limitations such as insufficient consumers’ education and regulatory inadequacies were noted which need national coordination between stakeholders. Notwithstanding the fact that the legal framework exhibits strong points especially in addressing vital issues, its timely evaluation, amendment, and enforcement is deemed as a key to solve the emerging challenges and obtain confidence of consumers when it comes to digital banking.

Aboalsamh, H. M., Khrais, L. T., & Albahussain, S. A. (2023). Pioneering Perception of Green Fintech in Promoting Sustainable Digital Services Application within Smart Cities. Sustainability, 15(14), 11440. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411440

Abu Ali, M., Alawadi, K., & Khanal, A. (2021). The Role of Green Infrastructure in Enhancing Microclimate Conditions: A Case Study of a Low-Rise Neighborhood in Abu Dhabi. Sustainability, 13(8), 4260. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084260

Abubakar, I. R., & Dano, U. L. (2019). Sustainable urban planning strategies for mitigating climate change in Saudi Arabia. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22(6), 5129–5152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00417-1

Abumughli, A. A., & Aysan, A. F. (2021). The ascent of digital banks in the Gulf region: Prospects and challenges. Journal of Digital Banking, 6(3), 277-286.

Aburuzaiza, A. A. (2017). Investingating the effect of Urban from on heat Island Phenomena [PhD thesis]. Effat University, Saudi Arabia.

Addas, A., & Maghrabi, A. (2021). Role of Urban Greening Strategies for Environmental Sustainability—A Review and Assessment in the Context of Saudi Arabian Megacities. Sustainability, 13(11), 6457. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116457

Ageeli, A. (2022). Defense associations for bank users. Comparative analysis of French and Saudi practices [PhD thesis]. Université Côte d'Azur.

Ahmad, N., Naveed, R. T., Scholz, M., et al. (2021). CSR Communication through Social Media: A Litmus Test for Banking Consumers’ Loyalty. Sustainability, 13(4), 2319. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042319

Aina, Y. A., Wafer, A., Ahmed, F., et al. (2019). Top-down sustainable urban development? Urban governance transformation in Saudi Arabia. Cities, 90, 272–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.03.003

Alajmi, A. M., & Ahmed Memon, Z. (2022). A Review on Significant Factors Causing Delays in Saudi Arabia Construction Projects. Smart Cities, 5(4), 1465–1487. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040075

AlBenJasim, S., Dargahi, T., Takruri, H., et al. (2023). FinTech Cybersecurity Challenges and Regulations: Bahrain Case Study. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2023.2251455

Alboqami, H. A. (2018). Investigating the factors affecting customers' trust and acceptance of online banking: the case of Saudi Arabia [PhD thesis]. Brunel University London.

AlGhamdi, R., Drew, S., & Alhussain, T. (2012). A Conceptual Framework for the Promotion of Trusted Online Retailing Environment in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(5). https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v7n5p140

Al-Hamdany, A., & Fadhil Mahmood, A. (2023). Fintech innovations, scope, challenges, and implications in Islamic Finance: A systematic analysis. International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems, 13(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.12785/ijcds/130147

Alkraiji, A., & Ameen, N. (2021). The impact of service quality, trust and satisfaction on young citizen loyalty towards government e-services. Information Technology & People, 35(4), 1239–1270. https://doi.org/10.1108/itp-04-2020-0229

Al-Mamari, S. N. (2018). General Principles of Consumer Protection in E-commerce Trade: A Comparative Study Between Islamic Law and EU Laws. University of Exeter (United Kingdom).

Almatar, K. M. (2022). Transit-Oriented Development in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh as a Case Study. Sustainability, 14(23), 16129. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316129

Almatar, K. M. (2023a). Increasing electric vehicles infrastructure in urban areas for efficiently employing renewable energy. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03723-x

Almatar, K. M. (2023b). Towards sustainable green mobility in the future of Saudi Arabia cities: Implication for reducing carbon emissions and increasing renewable energy capacity. Heliyon, 9(3), e13977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13977

Alotaibi, F., Furnell, S., Stengel, I., et al. (2016). A survey of cyber-security awareness in Saudi Arabia. 2016 11th International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST). https://doi.org/10.1109/icitst.2016.7856687

Alqahtany, A. (2022). Green Roofs as an Approach to Enhance Urban Sustainability: A Study of Public Perception in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Buildings, 12(12), 2202. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122202

Alshathri, S. A. (2022). Online dispute resolution as a mechanism to enhance consumer trust in e-commerce: how can Saudi Arabian law be improved? [PhD thesis]. Newcastle University.

Alzubaidi, A. (2021). Measuring the level of cyber-security awareness for cybercrime in Saudi Arabia. Heliyon, 7(1), e06016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06016

Armour, J., Gordon, J., & Min, G. (2020). Taking compliance seriously. 37 Yale J. on Reg. 1. Available online: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2842 (accessed on 1 March 2024).

Authority, S. A. M. (2017). Cyber security framework. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ayush. (2021). Mediation: Its Future Perspective in India. Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research, 2(1).

Baabdullah, A. M., Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., et al. (2019). Consumer use of mobile banking (M-Banking) in Saudi Arabia: Towards an integrated model. International Journal of Information Management, 44, 38–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.09.002

Belwal, R., Al Shibli, R., & Belwal, S. (2020). Consumer protection and electronic commerce in the Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 19(1), 38–60. https://doi.org/10.1108/jices-09-2019-0110

Calliess, C., & Baumgarten, A. (2020). Cybersecurity in the EU The Example of the Financial Sector: A Legal Perspective. German Law Journal, 21(6), 1149–1179. https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2020.67

Chawla, N., & Kumar, B. (2021). E-Commerce and Consumer Protection in India: The Emerging Trend. Journal of Business Ethics, 180(2), 581–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04884-3

Chen, V., Godwin, A., & Ramsay, I. (2020). Consumer financial dispute resolution in a time of increased regulatory scrutiny. Research Handbook on Asian Financial Law. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972208.00021

Elhilali, C. (2023). The General Budget in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Between Governance Requirements and Financial Sustainability. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe, 6(5), 59–71. Internet Archive. https://doi.org/10.33327/ajee-18-6s006

Elliott, H., Eon, C., & Breadsell, J. (2020). Improving City Vitality through Urban Heat Reduction with Green Infrastructure and Design Solutions: A Systematic Literature Review. Buildings, 10(12), 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10120219

Exploring Factors to Improve Intentions to Adopt Cybersecurity: A Study of Saudi Banking Sector. (2023). Humanitarian and Natural Sciences Journal, 4(9). https://doi.org/10.53796/hnsj498

Fasnacht, D. (2018). Open Innovation Ecosystems. In Management for Professionals. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76394-1

Fatma, M., & Khan, I. (2023). An Integrative Framework to Explore Corporate Ability and Corporate Social Responsibility Association’s Influence on Consumer Responses in the Banking Sector. Sustainability, 15(10), 7988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107988

Faudot, A. (2019). Saudi Arabia and the rentier regime trap: A critical assessment of the plan Vision 2030. Resources Policy, 62, 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.03.009

Fernández-Villaverde, J., Sanches, D., Schilling, L., et al. (2020). Central bank digital currency: Central banking for all? Review of Economic Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2020.12.004

Halder, S. (2022). Cyber Terrorism: A Threat to Human Society. Jus Corpus LJ, 3(175).

Herath, S. K., & Alsulmi, F. H. (2017). International financial reporting standards (IFRS): The benefits, obstacles, and opportunities for implementation in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Social Science and Business, 2(1), 1-18.

Kiernan, J. S. (2018). Reducing the cost and increasing the efficiency of resolving commercial disputes. Cardozo L. Rev., 40(187).

Knowles, R. D., & Ferbrache, F. (2019). Introduction to Transit Oriented Development and Sustainable Cities: Economics, Community and Methods. Transit Oriented Development and Sustainable Cities. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788971713.00007

Kraus, S., Breier, M., & Dasí-Rodríguez, S. (2020). The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 16(3), 1023–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00635-4

Kraus, S., Breier, M., Lim, W. M., et al. (2022). Literature reviews as independent studies: guidelines for academic practice. Review of Managerial Science, 16(8), 2577–2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00588-8

Kraus, S., Mahto, R. V., & Walsh, S. T. (2021). The importance of literature reviews in small business and entrepreneurship research. Journal of Small Business Management, 61(3), 1095–1106. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2021.1955128

Kumar, R. R., & Alok, K. (2020). Adoption of electric vehicle: A literature review and prospects for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 253, 119911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119911

Manning, L., & Kowalska, A. (2023). The threat of ransomware in the food supply chain: a challenge for food defence. Trends in Organized Crime. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-023-09516-y

Mashhoodi, B., van Timmeren, A., & van der Blij, N. (2019). The two and half minute walk: Fast charging of electric vehicles and the economic value of walkability. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48(4), 638–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808319885383

Meskic, Z., Albakjaji, M., Omerovic, E., et al. (2022). Transnational Consumer Protection in E-Commerce. International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology, 13(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijssmet.299972

Mohammed Almatar, K. (2023). Traffic congestion patterns in the urban road network: (Dammam metropolitan area). Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 14(3), 101886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2022.101886

Moreira, J. I., & Vecellio Segate, R. (2021). The ‘It’ Arbitrator: Why Do Corporations Not Act as Arbitrators? Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 12(4), 525–557. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnlids/idab022

Muhammad, A. B., Ariff, S. J., Mansour, A., et al. (2022). Banking Customer Behavior and Banking Sector Performance: The Role of The Digital Infrastructure. The Journal of Modern Project Management, 10(2), 7-15.

Polat, A. (2021). Effects of GDPR on the financial services sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Data Protection & Privacy, 4(3), 273-282.

Pompella, M., & Matousek, R. (2021). The Palgrave Handbook of FinTech and Blockchain. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66433-6

Ramzan, M., Razi, U., Quddoos, M. U., et al. (2022). Do green innovation and financial globalization contribute to the ecological sustainability and energy transition in the United Kingdom? Policy insights from a bootstrap rolling window approach. Sustainable Development, 31(1), 393–414. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2399

Richards, N. M., & Hartzog, W. (2020). A Duty of Loyalty for Privacy Law. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3642217

Safeena, R., Date, H., & Kammani, A. (2011). Internet Banking Adoption in an Emerging Economy: Indian Consumer’s Perspective. International Arab Journal of e-Technology, 2(1), 56-64.

Salem, M. Z., Baidoun, S., & Walsh, G. (2019). Factors affecting Palestinian customers’ use of online banking services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(2), 426–451. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbm-08-2018-0210

Sarabdeen, J. (2023). Laws on regulatory technology (RegTech) in Saudi Arabia: are they adequate? International Journal of Law and Management, 65(6), 523–537. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlma-03-2023-0042

Scardovi, C. (2017). Digital Transformation in Financial Services. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66945-8

Sharma, R., & Thapa, S. (2023). Cybersecurity awareness, education, and behavioral change: strategies for promoting secure online practices among end users. Eigenpub Review of Science and Technology, 7(1), 224-238.

Srinivas, J., Das, A. K., & Kumar, N. (2019). Government regulations in cyber security: Framework, standards and recommendations. Future Generation Computer Systems, 92, 178–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2018.09.063

Tiwari, S., Sharma, P., Choi, T.-M., et al. (2023). Blockchain and third-party logistics for global supply chain operations: Stakeholders’ perspectives and decision roadmap. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 170, 103012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2022.103012

Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mitigation. (2021). In: Enteria, N., Santamouris, M., & Eicker, U. (editors). Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4050-3

van Gelder, E. M. (2022). Consumer Online Dispute Resolution Pathways in Europe. Rotterdam, Den Haag: Eleven, 13, 208.

Zain, N. R. B. M., Ali, E. R. A. E., Abideen, A., et al. (2019). Smart contract in blockchain: An exploration of legal framework in Malaysia. Intellectual Discourse, 27(2), 595-617.

Zhang, M. (2020). A Chinese approach to “transit oriented development” (TOD). Handbook on Transport and Urban Transformation in China. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786439246.00013