Historique

1) GENERAL BACKGROUND

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital.  UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.  It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

Recently, UNCDF  formulated its strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ based on over a decade of experience in digital finance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF recognizes that reaching the full potential of digital financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals aligns with the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind. The vision of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. For further detail on UNCDF strategy, refer to; https://www.uncdf.org/article/4931/global-strategy-leaving-no-one-behind-in-the-digital-era

UNCDF in Myanmar

UNCDF has been operating in Myanmar since 2012 with a capital mandate to expand savings-led financial inclusion and use localized investments to drive poverty reduction and sustainable development. The country program seeks to improve financial service access and usage to achieve equitable, sustainable, and inclusive growth within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), which includes the use of innovate solutions to bring formal services for people at the bottom of the pyramid.

UNCDF Myanmar, by way of the Myanmar Microfinance Digitization Project (MMD), proposes to accelerate inclusive digital finance, particularly for women, by focusing on three use cases: (i) MFI loan re-payments, (ii) MFI loan disbursements, and (ii) electronic cash transfers (bulk transfers).

Building on the existing Mojaloop lab work with the microfinance industry on digital microfinance loan repayments, UNCDF has moved the interoperability lab from “testing” to “production go-live” with a focus on the payments that matter most for vulnerable populations. The project has synthesized in a payment scheme, called WynePay.

WynePay is a participant-managed and participant-owned payment scheme, using the open source Mojaloop settlement and connector platforms. About 30 financial institutions (primarily MFIs and Wallets) have joined the Scheme. UNCDF has been working with the Scheme participants in getting the technology and business partnerships ready while the regulatory approval is received. A Myanmar-based technology company, Thitsaworks, operates the Scheme under the guidance of WynePay Scheme Council, which is represented by eight of the 30 leading financial institutions in Myanmar.

One of the requirements to going live is develop rules covering the WynePay Scheme and its products, namely the use cases. The Rules are divided into two categories: Scheme Rules and Business Rules for Use Cases.

• Scheme Rules (SR): governing the overarching rules, settlements, participations, risk, reporting, governance etc. that apply across all WynePay’s activities
• Business Rules (BR): use-case specific rules, operational decisions, mechanisms, and frameworks specific to the use cases and their variants (e.g., repayment via agents)

 The general Scheme-level rules have already been agreed by the Participant and a draft version is available. Likewise, several operational and business decisions for use cases have also been discussed and agreed with the participants and the operator.

UNCDF is looking for an expert to collate, organize, and finalize the Rules book. The work would include working with the scheme operator in finalizing the operational and business decisions for the use cases.

Devoirs et responsabilités

2) OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objective is two-fold, namely:

1. To finalize and complete the WynePay Scheme General Rules  which are currently in a draft form, and
2. Develop WynePay Scheme Business Rules for each of the use-cases noted below:

1. MFI Loan Repayment (Account to Account)
2. MFI Loan Repayment (Agent OTC to Account)
3. MFI Loan Disbursement (Account to Account)
4. MFI Loan Disbursement (Account to Agent OTC)
5. ECT/G2P/Bulk Transfer (Account to Account)

Under the supervision of the UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead, the consultant will deliver the completed WynePay GRs and specific BRs for use cases noted above (A to E). 

3) SCOPE OF WORK

1. To finalize and complete the WynePay Scheme GRs, using the existing draft.
   1. Analyze and reflect feedback to finalize WynePay Scheme GRs
   2. Participate in WynePay Scheme Rules presentation workshop (to be jointly delivered with the project team)
   3. Develop the standard scheme rules structure and fulfill the gap components in the existing draft scheme document.
   4. Ensure WynePay Scheme rules are aligned with the consideration of local regulatory guidelines and requirements
   5. Align  General Scheme rules and specific business scheme rules
2. Develop the WynePay Scheme BRs for use case A to E (note – operational details for account-to-account transactions are already agreed).
   1. Develop the standard specific business rules for each use case
   2. Hold bilateral or group discussions with the WynePay scheme participants, scheme operators, and the project team in gathering missing information
   3. Ensure alignment with local regulatory requirements

4) Expected Outputs and Deliverables.

5) Institutional Arrangement

• The Consultant will closely work with the MMD project team and follow the overall guidance of the UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead.
• The UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead will approve the consultant’s payment based on the deliverables listed in these TORs.
• The consultant will join calls as required by the project to update on progress and on his deliverables.
• The Consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during his/her engagement with UNCDF. 
• Reimbursable Cost: Refreshment costs associated with the event for financial service providers will be borne by UNCDF.
• No travel is anticipated. Any travel, if required, need to be approved by the Country Lead and will be subject to UNCDF’s travel policy. Reimbursable costs incurred with permission will be borne by UNCDF.

6) DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT

Contract period: 15 October 2022 to 15 February 2023 (4 months) 

7) DUTY STATION AND TRAVEL

Duty station: Home based (no travel)

Places of Travel: No travel required.

8) PROVISION OF MONITORING AND PROGRESS CONTROLS

The Consultant will closely work with the MMD project team and follow the overall guidance of the UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead. The UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead will approve the consultant’s payment based on the deliverables listed in these TORs.

The Consultant is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during his/her engagement with UNCDF.

The following supporting documents will serve as conditions for payments to an Individual Contractor(s):

1. Submission of Certificate of Payment (COP)
2. Submission of invoice
3. Submission of all deliverables / workplan / progress report with the relevant supporting documentation
4. Review, approval and written acceptance of each deliverable by the UNCDF Myanmar Country Technical Lead.

Compétences

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNCDF and UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competences

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as an integral part of multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural and multi-agency teams.
• Ability to deal with rapidly shifting priorities and work demands.
• Organized, punctual and detailed
• Good negotiation skills and the ability to persuade others
• Excellent judgement and effective problem-solving ability
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal) across various media, email, phone, in-person and in group settings
• Proficient in use of MS office

Qualifications et expériences requises

9) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR

Education

• Minimum university degree in Computer Science, Technology, Economics, Finance/Banking, Social Studies, Development Studies, or any other relevant discipline.

Experience

• Minimum eight (8) years of hands-on experience in the digital financial inclusion and related fields.
• Minimum five (5) years of experience working with digital payments space in developing countries.
• Demonstrated experience in scheme rules for interoperable payment schemes (preferably open-source) is required.
• A good understanding of the financial system and landscape in Myanmar, the regulatory approach to payment services and CBM’s guidelines for financial payment system is desirable.
• Knowledge of other countries that have been developing Interoperable Payment Platforms (preferably of other Mojaloop deployments is desirable.

Language

• Fluency command of written and spoken English is required.

11) APPLICATION PROCESS AND EVALUATION

Application process:

Interested individuals must submit the documents mentioned below as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications. (NOTE: The system does not allow multiple uploads of document. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file.)

All applications must contain the following information and should be submitted by 5 October 2022:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies and motivation rationalizing how the applicant meets the qualifications and experience required as per qualifications criteria above and can deliver the requirements of the Terms of Reference. (maximum one page);
• Examples or links to the candidate’s work such as publications and reports that demonstrate the candidate’s knowledge, experience, and understanding in scheme rules for interoperable payment schemes, digital financial inclusion, and preferably understanding of Myanmar financial regulatory environment;
• Earliest availability and the proposed schedule for consultancy;
• Complete and signed P11 form or CV, including three referees (available from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc
• Financial proposal: The financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount that is inclusive of professional fees and other incidentals that the consultant expects to incur during the performance of the work. For this purpose, please complete and submit the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Please click here for document), please send it separately to the email address  financial.proposal@uncdf.org  with the subject line: Technical writer

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Evaluation:

Step I: Screening: Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the mandatory criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting.

Mandatory Criteria

• Minimum university degree in Technology, Economics, Finance/Banking, Social Studies, Business, Development Studies, or any other relevant discipline.
• Minimum eight (8) years of hands-on experience in the digital financial inclusion and related fields.

Step II: Shortlisting by desk review

UNCDF will produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate candidates from 1 to 100 points as per criteria below. Only applicants scoring 70 points or above shall be considered for financial evaluation.

Step III: Financial Evaluation  

Only candidates with scores above 70 points of the technical evaluation will be considered. The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks):

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula: p = y (µ/z), where:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Award Criteria

The contact shall be awarded to the best applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable
• Having received the highest combined weight (technical scores) 70% + financial 30%= 100%.

Both individual consultants and individual employed of a company or institution are welcome to apply. 

Any individual employed of a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly).

Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.