<p>This study contextually adapts Diffusion of Innovations Theory to examine how trust and perceived environmental usefulness influence customers’ intention to adopt AI and blockchain for circular economy practices in Ghana’s retail banking sector. Using a quantitative survey of 283 retail banking customers, data were analysed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. Results show that trust in AI and blockchain, and perceived environmental usefulness, significantly predict adoption intention, with attitudes toward technology and circular economy practices mediating these relationships. Trust operates as an antecedent that reduces perceived complexity under algorithmic opacity, while perceived environmental usefulness specifies relative advantage in environmental terms. This clarifies how DOI attributes manifest for circular economy technologies and addresses the theory’s limited focus on algorithm-based, values-driven innovations. Practically, the findings indicate that retail banks should prioritize transparency to build trust and communicate environmental benefits to enhance adoption. The adapted framework provides a basis for understanding technology adoption for circular economy transitions in emerging markets.</p>