Purpose – This study investigates the mediating role of attitudes (AT) in the relationship between security-privacy (SP) concerns and the intention to adopt (ITA) green banking services. It further examines the moderating influence of institutional context by comparing these relationships across Private Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in Uttarakhand, India.

Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional research design was employed, collecting quantitative data from 350 customers of HDFC Bank (private) and Uttarakhand Gramin Bank (RRB) across seven districts. The research model, integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Privacy Calculus Theory (PCT), was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) (SMART PLS 4.1) and Multi-Group Analysis (MGA).

Findings – The results confirm that Security-Privacy significantly influences both Attitude (β = 0.673) and Intention to Adopt. Attitude positively affects Intention to Adopt (β = 0.630) and partially mediates the SP-ITA relationship. Crucially, Multi-Group Analysis revealed a significant moderating effect of bank type. For instance, SP had a positive effect on AT for private bank customers (β = 0.127) but a negative effect for RRB customers (β = -0.628), highlighting stark institutional differences.

Research limitations/implications – The study's findings are constrained by its focus on Himalayan banking customer base and a consumer-only sample. Future research should include bankers and managers from diverse bank types and regions and incorporate longitudinal data.

Practical implications– The findings offer critical insights for policymakers and banking executives. They can apply these findings to develop distinct, context-specific strategies: private banks should leverage their technological advantage in communications, while RRBs must prioritize direct demonstrations of security protocols to build trust and foster adoption among their specific customer groups.

Originality/value – This study presents a novel contribution by introducing SP as a key antecedent to AT and ITA within an extended TPB-PCT framework. It is the first to empirically validate the moderating role of bank type in the green banking adoption process, addressing a significant institutional-geographic void in the literature..