This paper presents a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review (2015–2025) of 20 empirical studies on digital transformation in retail banking, examining how artificial intelligence (AI) strengthens cybersecurity, enables FinTech collaboration through interoperable APIs and open-banking infrastructures, and embeds data-driven decision-making across core functions. We searched major databases, applied predefined eligibility criteria, appraised study quality, and coded outcomes related to digital adoption, operational resilience, and customer experience. The synthesis indicates that AI-enabled controls and API-mediated partnerships are consistently associated with higher digital-maturity indicators, conditional on robust model-risk governance and prudent third-party/outsourcing management. Benefits span improved customer experience, efficiency, and inclusion; however, legacy systems, regulatory fragmentation, cyber threats, and organizational resistance remain binding constraints. We propose a unified framework linking technology choices, regulatory design, and organizational outcomes, and distill actionable guidance for policymakers (e.g., interoperable standards, proportional AI governance, sector-wide cyber resilience) and bank managers (sequencing AI use cases, risk controls, and partnership models). Future research should assess emerging technologies—including quantum-safe security and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—and their implications for digital-banking stability and trust.

This study evaluates how legal and regulatory architectures shape banks’ digital transformation in Qatar relative to peer jurisdictions and isolates the regulatory components that most strongly predict observed differences in digital maturity. Employing a comparative mixed-methods design, the study links a structured legal-regulatory assessment to quantitative benchmarking of fifteen banks (five Qatar, ten international) using a Digital Maturity Index and inferential tests (descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, and OLS regressions). International banks exhibit higher average digital maturity than Qatar banks, and across the sample, regulatory clarity and coherence are positively and significantly associated with digital maturity, whereas supervisory intensity alone shows no comparable effect; implementation frictions in open banking/interoperability, unified data protection, and approval timelines constrain collaboration and product rollout in Qatar. Moreover, the cross-sectional design, modest sample size, and index weighting choices limit causal inference and external validity, indicating the need for longitudinal and quasi-experimental designs to corroborate mechanisms and generalize findings. Policymakers should adopt risk-proportionate, outcomes-based rules, codify interoperable API standards, strengthen data rights and cloud/third-party governance, and establish sector-level KPIs to match supervisory expectations with bank execution and accelerate safe digitalization. Enhancements to privacy, data portability, and inclusive digital onboarding are likely to improve consumer trust, competition, and access, thereby advancing broad-based participation in digital financial services. The study integrates legal analysis with bank-level operational metrics through an analytically tractable index and a Qatar–international comparison, demonstrating the outsized role of regulatory clarity in advancing digital maturity.