To explore the determinants of smart banking chatbots (SBCs) acceptance among people, we integrated Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study aimed to address such gaps in knowledge related to the influence of personalization on effort and performance expectations. A survey was administered to 212 bank customers and the data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results indicated that for the acceptance of SBC, Hedonic Motivation, Social Influence, Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Facilitating Conditions have a significant impact. Further, personalization led to an improvement in effort and performance expectancy which highlights the importance of personalization in improving user perceptions. TAM over the UTAUT can help to get a fuller picture of SBC adoption according to researchers. It also demonstrated how crucial it is to make things personal and easy to use in order to foster adoption. The results of the study provide banks and tech developers theoretical and practical knowledge.