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Mobile banking is promoted as a powerful channel for reaching out to the masses for their banking needs, yet its adoption remains slow. Existing studies identify perceived safety, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, financial literacy, and demographic characteristics as key determinants of mobile banking adoption. However, given the low financial literacy of rural adults, handholding, defined as the provision of support to adopt mobile banking, could be an important component of ‘facilitating conditions’ as recognised under the UTAUT framework. To empirically examine this relationship, partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed using data from a primary survey conducted in eight villages in West Bengal, India. After controlling for all the variables traditionally identified, the findings confirm the role of handholding, both institutional and informal, in catalysing the transition to mobile banking in rural areas. Focussing on tech-savvy youngsters during financial literacy programmes may help in increasing the migration to mobile banking through the informal handholding channel.