Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to conduct a feasibility study on the development and implementation of alternative payment, money/remittances transfer options in the Republic of Moldova

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01384

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	21 Aug 2016, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	28 Aug 2016, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	05 Sep 2016
Reference to the project:	Mainstreaming Migration into National Development Strategies Project
Expected Duration of Assignment:	20 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 21 August. 2016. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: alexandru.oprunenco@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Alexandru Oprunenco.

alexandru.oprunenco@undp.org

Background

Following the long-term emigration phenomenon, it is estimated that about a third of Moldova’s population resides temporarily or permanently abroad. Related to the persisting outward flow of large ratios of the labour force are the well-established remittance flows, which currently correspond to between 25 and 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and makes Moldova one of the countries in the region which is most dependent on remittances. In fact, more than 25 percent of Moldovan households receive remittances, making up around 18 percent of their income.  For this, and other well-known reasons, migration and diaspora-related programmes are of significant importance to ensure both the economic, demographic and human development of Moldova.

Following the major bank fraud a couple of years ago (when the equivalent of one billion USD disappeared from three national banks), trust in the country’s financial institutions has declined. The lack of trust is exacerbated by the fact that only 18 % of the adult population own a bank account and only 11 % are active users of the same account.  The banks thus struggle to make their traditional business model work. As a consequence, remittances to Moldova are largely sent through informal channels, such as through friends, relatives or bus drivers who travel back and forth from migrant countries of destination. Nevertheless, because of the sheer amount of remittances sent to Moldova from abroad, it could potentially be a huge market for any innovative system that could capture even a small proportion of it. Also, actions to reverse this trend are being taken, as it has since long been a priority of the Moldovan government to increase the access to formal money remittance transfers.

Simultaneously, new technology enables mobile phones to offer convenient and reliable financial services, and thereby provide for the extension of payments, money transfers, savings, and credit to people who previously did not have access to such services. Mobile accounts have also proven to be far cheaper than traditional bank accounts. Moreover, despite low levels of financial literacy and inclusion, as well as being one of the poorest countries in Europe, Moldova enjoys wide-spread use of mobile phones (penetration rate was 126, 3 % in 2014)   as well as one of the fastest and most connected internet services in the world.

Hence, there is reason to believe that Moldova has both high potential and much to gain from establishing digital financial services accessible through mobile devices. Merged with a system for transferring remittances, so called mobile banking,  may therefore be one alternative to traditional payment solutions worth exploring. The additive form of mobile banking (common in Western Europe) simply connects mobile phones to existing bank accounts and allows for example management of bills.  The transformative form of mobile banking, which would probably be most relevant for Moldova, aims at using mobile phones and network agents (such as postal offices or shops which sell mobile phone cards) to provide bank-like services. Through such as system, credit kept on the phone could potentially be used to directly buy goods, transfer money to other phones or be transformed into cash.

Indeed, digital payment systems are becoming increasingly popular around the world, with mobile money being available in 93 countries in 2015. Moreover, cross-border transactions were a very fast growing product last year, as mobile money services offering International Money Transfer (IMT) saw the volume of cross-border remittances increase by 51.8 %.  This provides for a great opportunity to learn from the international experience concerning the type of systems which have succeeded, but also from them who have failed. Accordingly, Moldova should pay particular attention to the some of the challenges facing the industry, such as: overcoming complex regulatory barriers, dealing with the technical orientation of the potential client base, problems in setting up viable agent networks and managing the ability to open up the system into a wider range of banking services beyond simply paying bills and handling cash transfers.

Against this background, UNDP and its international partners are seeking to identify innovative options whereby money can be safely and conveniently transferred, both from abroad and domestically within the country. Based on the feasibility study to be conducted by the commissioned Expert, it is envisioned that the identified alternative payment solution should be pilot tested in coordination with relevant stakeholders, and subsequently launched for full scale implementation.

Scope of work

This activity is part of a wider effort in which the implementing partners of the MOMID project are mainstreaming migration into national development strategies by exploring and creating synergies with ongoing development programming and other Migration and Development interventions. The general objective of the activity is to find the most suitable and innovative alternative model for payment / money transfer financial services to be applied in the Moldovan context.

General Objectives:

-    To assess  the state  of  the  provision  of  payment/money transfer financial  services to Moldova, including through desk review of legislation and secondary sources, and meeting with relevant stakeholders;
-    To review the relevant international experience in the field of alternative money transfer financial services (e.g. via mobile phone, Postal Services), including reviewing the experience of countries with extensive experience and compare alternative payment/money/remittances transfer options;
-    To assess the  depth  and  breadth  of  existing  policies,  laws  and  regulations governing alternative money transfer financial services  in  the  selected countries. Also,  assess the  role  that  central banks and governments play(ed) in promoting alternative money transfer financial services as regulators;
-    To examine lessons learnt in the provision of alternative money transfer financial services in countries where these  services  have  been  successfully  implemented  and  have  reached  significant scale.  The examination  should  focus  on the regulatory  reforms that have  been undertaken,  the  roles  played  by the different  stakeholders, including  the  banks and governments, and the  roles  played  by external players  such  as  the  international development finance institutions, private sector and the donor community;
-    To assess mobile phone money transfer as a possible option in Moldova, and analyse the potential of innovative technologies, including blockchain, for this purpose. Analyse how it might merge with a system for transferring remittances, taking into account also the legal and regulatory provisions;
-    To identify the best alternative innovative option(s) of payment, money/remittances transfer options for Moldova;
-    To assess the scale of the demand for the proposed alternative innovative option(s);
-    To determine the nature of the obstacles, if any, which could prevent the proposed option from reaching significant scale. This review should also include an assessment of the state  of  the existing payment  market infrastructures that  would  be  required  for  the scaling up of the proposed services to the underserved and poor populations;
-    To develop a brief Road map with steps on how to launch a possible pilot testing of the identified option.

Requirements for experience

Academic qualifications:

• University Degree in Finance, Economics, Banking, Engineering or other relevant fields; Advanced university degree is an advantage;
  
  

Years of experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in finance or banking;
  
  

Competencies

• Experience in alternative finance and electronic money management systems will be an asset;
• Solid knowledge of policies, laws and regulations governing financial services in Moldova as well as global and regional best practices in the field;
• Solid knowledge of banking and the operations of financial intermediaries;
• Knowledge of innovative payment systems and mobile money/banking, a solid understanding of the payment services systems including hardware, software, products, systems, platforms, players and other relevant aspects of finance;
• Previous experience in development assistance or related work for the Moldovan Government, donor organization, international development finance institutions, consulting company or NGO;
• Experience of working in the Moldovan banking system and/or banking/financial regulator;
• Experience in working within the area of alternative payment systems and/or innovative technologies;
• Experience in conducting research;
• Strong analytical, research, and user-friendly reporting skills;
• Good communication, interpersonal and organizational skills, integrity;
• Good knowledge of Romanian and English (speaking and writing)
• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences in culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

 1.Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable);

 2.Financial proposal;

 3.Complete P11 form, personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fees, taxes, travel costs, accommodation costs, communication, and number of anticipated working days).  

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

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