This study investigates the mediating role of trust in the adoption of financial technology among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Palestine, a context marked by financial exclusion, institutional fragility, and regulatory ambiguity. Using quantitative research design, data were collected from 114 SME owners through structured questionnaires and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that financial awareness and government support significantly enhance both firm innovativeness and trust, while firm innovativeness itself also strengthens trust. Trust emerges as the strongest determinant of FinTech adoption, exerting a substantial direct effect while also mediating the influence of financial awareness, government support, and firm innovativeness on adoption outcomes. These results underscore that while organizational resources and external enablers are necessary, they are insufficient without trust, which serves as the critical bridge between enabling conditions and adoption behavior.