Authority: USAID Award No. AID-OAA-A-12-00073

RFP Title:mSTAR, Subcontract to conduct Demand-focused Market Research on Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh

RFP No:3569018001-2014-01

Date of Issuance:Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Due Date for Questions:5:00 PM US EDT,Sunday, July 27

Response to Questions:5:00 PM US EDT, Thursday, July 31

Closing Date:5:00 PM US EDT, Thursday, August 7

Estimated Award Date:AnticipateOctober 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1PURPOSE STATEMENT

2OBJECTIVE

3PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

3.1Background and Rationale

3.2Methodology

3.3Scope of Work

3.4Deliverables

3.5Timeline

4INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

4.1Offerors Eligibility

4.2Contract Type

4.3Funding and Estimated Period of Performance

4.4Proposal Submission Deadline

4.5Submission Method for Questions and Proposals

4.6Review Process

4.7Proposal Contents

4.8Evaluation Criteria

5TERMS AND CONDITIONS

5.1Source of Funding and Geographic Code

5.2Withdrawal of Proposals

5.3Right to Select/Reject

5.4Disclaimer

5.5Offer Verification

5.6False Statements in Offer

5.7Conflict of Interest

5.8Reserved Rights

5.9Governing Law and Language

5.10Certification of Independent Price Determination

5.11Award and Notification of Selected Proposals

6ATTACHMENTS

1PURPOSE STATEMENT

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit proposals from subcontractors to conduct a Demand-focused Market Research on Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh to support FHI 360’s implementation of the Mobile Solutions Technical Assistance and Research Program (mSTAR), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Award No.AID-OAA-A-12-00073.mSTAR is a strategic investment by USAID to advance mobile solutions and close the gaps that hold back access and uptake of mobile technology. The project supports broad-based coordinated action by a range of market stakeholders — including governments, donors, mobile service providers, and their customers.

FHI 360’s mSTAR project is issuing this request for proposalsto firms with significant experience in Market Research on Mobile Financial Services in South Asia.

This RFPis issued as a public notice to ensure that all interested,qualified, and eligible organizations have a fair opportunity to submit proposals for funding.

2OBJECTIVE

The objective of the research is to increase understanding of how mobile financial services are currently being used by USAID target populations and to identify key focus areas that USAID can address through mSTAR to help transition its implementing partners to mobile financial services, including those at the ecosystem level. This research will form a holistic understanding of the landscape of mobile financial services in Bangladesh from the perspective of potential users. It will assess the impact on financial inclusion of innovative retail payment products and any market and regulatory challenges that may be inhibiting increased inclusion. The research will also build off of a previous landscape assessment conducted in July 2013 to identify issues holding back USAID’s implementing partners (IPs) in Bangladesh from making the transition to mobile financial services (the landscape assessment is available online:

3PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

3.1Background and Rationale

Technology enabled initiatives are increasingly being deployed globally to further the objective of financial inclusion. Policy making circles view mobile money as a game-changer in enabling greater access to financial services for the poor. Several mobile banking initiatives are being undertaken to exploit the promise of technology so as to sidestep the costs of bringing financial access to the doorstep of the hitherto excluded low income client segment. The thrust on technology enabled financial inclusion is being driven at various levels by governments, regulators, banks, mobile network operators and other financial network participants.

A large section of the population in Bangladesh who do not have any physical access to the banking services are in rural and remote areas in the country where geographical, regulatory, political, and socio economic barriers prevent a large proportion of the population (including small and medium enterprises) from accessing financial services. Most banks have neither the requisite branches in remote rural areas, nor do they have trained staff to cater to the unique needs of the prospective rural customer base. Moreover, the product and services aspects need considerable improvement to make it more inclusive of rural areas, particularly poor small enterprises and farmers.

Mobile money/branchless banking has the potential to extend services to those with limited access to traditional bank accounts and services, particularly those at the bottom of the pyramid, while also reducing transaction costs in terms of commission fees and transport costs. The growing number of mobile phone subscribers across Bangladesh, coupled with entry of service providers and development in technology, has meant that they can potentially be used to include unbanked / under banked into the formal financial sector.

Success of mobile money deployments often depend upon a host of different factors – often specific to the geography of the deployment. However, based on global experience, three factors can be said to be conducive to potential success:

Favorable regulatory environment
Presence of customer demand
Potential for a lead product which can be delivered using mobile money channels

The mSTARproject understands the importance of supporting the nascent mobile banking ecosystem in Bangladesh. To enable this, the logical first step is to understand the current scenario interms of financial access, regulatory provisions and customer demand; and demonstrate potentialbusiness models that can be adopted, adapted and replicated by service providers.

This assignment will focus on identifying gaps and opportunities related to consumer demand for mobile financial service products, with a particular focus on project beneficiaries of USAID agriculture and health projects. It should build off of the more extensive findings provided through the Financial Inclusion Insights program implemented by Intermedia (more information on the findings for Bangladesh can be found online:

3.2Methodology

It is expected that the Offeror will propose a detailed technical approach and methodology. In addition, qualitative market research in the form of focus group discussions or an alternative methodology will be required to better understand the needs of the target market.

3.3Scope of Work

The specific tasks that will be undertaken by the Offerorare:

Conduct a series of scoping discussions to help develop information gathering tools for questionnaire preparation.
Design semi-structured survey instrumentation to understand the gaps and opportunities that exist, and their impact on the abilityfor USAID implementing partners (IPs) of agriculture and health projects toeffectively deliver payments to project beneficiariesusingmobile financial services in targeted areas throughout Bangladesh.
Develop information gathering guidelines for in-depth (qualitative) interviews.
Collect data through face-to-face interviews with USAID agriculture and health project beneficiaries in at least ten districts, five in Khulna-Barisal division for agriculture and five in Rajshahi-Sylhet/Rangpur for health. The exact districts will be determined with FHI 360’s mSTAR team.
Clean and analyze data using rigorous, proven methods.
Write and present a final report which consolidates key findings from both qualitative and quantitative data, including recommendations and concrete action items for USAID, mSTAR, USAID IPs, mobile financial service providers, and regulators to address any of the gaps or capitalize on any of the opportunities identified.

3.4Deliverables

Draft set of survey instrumentation in English
Final set of survey instrumentation in English
Raw dataset
Clean dataset and tabulations as necessary
Inception report
Final market research summary report
Complete market research report and presentation including recommendations and concrete action items

3.5Timeline

It is expected that the assignment will be completed within 60 calendar days. Offerors are requested to submit timelines for each activity as per their proposed technical approach and methodology.

4INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

4.1OfferorsEligibility

This competition is open to any non-governmental, non-profit or for-profit entity. To be minimally eligible for funding, offerorsmust comply with the following conditions:

Organizations must be legally registered or otherwise authorized to conduct business in their country or countries of operation.
Organizations must have a DUNS number. Organizations without a DUNS number can register for one at the following website:
Organizations must submit their proposal in English.
Organizations with established systems/presence in Bangladesh are preferred.

4.2Contract Type

FHI 360 anticipates awarding a fixed price subcontract.

4.3Funding and Estimated Period of Performance

The mechanism for funding will be a Fixed Price Subcontract. FHI 360 will issue payment(s) based on submission and FHI360 acceptance of invoices and associated deliverables. Once an award is issued, it will include an invoicing schedule as well as a schedule of deliverables specified in the Scope of Work. The estimated budget range for this activity is $20,000 - $60,000.

The subcontract is anticipated to commence inearly October2014 and final deliverables are anticipated to be submitted byearly December2014.

4.4Proposal Submission Deadline

Proposals may be submitted at any time before 5:00PMEDTon the date specified on the cover page of this RFP. Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered. Additional opportunities for applying, however, may be made available in the future.

4.5Submission Method for Questions and Proposals

Submit Questions and Proposals electronically to: Ataur Rahman() with copies toJosh Woodard().FHI360 is not receiving paper applications for this RFP. All questions and answers will be shared with all interested offerors.

Technical proposals and attachments may be submitted in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. Budgets must be submitted in Microsoft Excel.

The email subject line should read “Subcontract to Demand-focused Market Research [Name of Organization submitting proposal]”.

4.6Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed and awarded by an evaluation panel. FHI 360 will lead and coordinate the evaluation panel. A technical evaluation committee will review all technical proposals using the Evaluation Criteria detailed below.

It is anticipated that the award will be made within 4-6 weeks after the submission deadline, as stated on the cover of this RFP. Final negotiations and award will be managed by FHI 360.

4.7Proposal Contents

Offerors will develop their proposals based on their understanding of needs, their prior institutional experience and their determination of the approaches that would be feasible and successful within the context provided above. In all cases, offerors shall clearly explain the rationale for the proposed approaches chosen.

Proposals should include submission of a technical proposal with attachments and a cost proposal. Technical proposals should not exceed 6 pages. Proposals must remain valid for at least sixty (60) days. The format should include the following:

Part A: Technical Proposal

Organization’s legal name
Contact name
Contact person’s position
E-mail address
Telephone number
Technical approach,including proposed implementation plan and projected timeframe for design and implementation
Staffing structure
Corporate capabilities and past performance on similar scopes of work

Technical Attachments (Please submit the following attachments with the Technical Proposal. Note that they do not count towards the 6 page limit)

Please provide the CVs of the key personnel who will conduct the work(maximum 4 pages per CV).
Please provide two references for each of the proposed staff.Include contact information (names, company or organization, phone number and email).

Part B: Cost Proposal

Please submit a summary and detailed line item budget broken down by activity, budget narrative, and supporting documentation that clearly describe how the budgeted amounts are calculated.
Please use the budget format included in Attachment A.
A brief narrative explanation and justification for each line item must be included in a separate section entitled “budget narrative” and include data to support actual costs and/or methodologies to support cost estimates. The budget narrative serves as justification for each cost included in a budget; should be presented in such a way as to be easily referenced from the budget; and should provide sufficient information so that FHI 360 may review a proposed budget for reasonableness. All projected costs must be in accordance with the organization’s standard practices and policies.
Budgets must be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate reasonableness and completeness. Offerors including budget information determined to be unreasonable, incomplete, unnecessary for the completion of the proposed project, or based on a methodology that is not adequately supported may be deemed unacceptable.
Budgets should be submitted in applicant’s local currency. Please note that FHI 360 cannot honor exchange rates included in a budget. Payments will be made according to the exchange rate at the time of payment.
Please indicate the inclusion/exclusion of any applicable taxes such as VAT.
Budgets should include domestic travel to at least ten districts outside of Dhaka. For non-Bangladeshi applicants, please include international travel to Bangladesh.
If the budget includes an indirect rate, this must be supported with a Negotiated Indirect Rate Cost Agreement (NICRA), or an independent auditor-certified indirect rate based upon the last 3 years of audited financial statements, that must be submitted to FHI 360. If the bidder does not have a copy of this to support the indirect rate proposed, they must break out the costs and charge the costs as direct expenses shown via line items in the budget. If the costs are charged as fixed direct expenses, please explain the methodology and calculation behind the estimated fixed amountsin the budget narrative.
Please include a signed FHI 360 BiodataForm (Attachment B) for any proposed staff or consultants who have a daily rate greater than $50 USD.

Part C: Organizational Attachments

Certifications (Attachment C) are required by FHI 360 and USAID and must be signed by the authorized official, dated and included in the proposal. Recipients will be required to comply with the content of the certifications as part of the contractual agreement when/if funding is approved.
Registration certificate for the organization.

4.8Evaluation Criteria

The criteria presented below have been tailored to the requirements of this RFP. A total of 100 points are possible for the complete proposal. The relative importance of each criterion is indicated by approximate weight by points.

Evaluation Criteria / Points
Technical Approach
-Comprehensiveness of proposed approach and methodology in responding to the objectives of the RFP.
-Implementation plan and proposed timeline are realistic and include all proposed elements of the activity. / 30 points
Personnel
-Key personnel identified to perform this work must have:

Experience in carrying out primary market research on Mobile Financial services.
Experience carrying out assignments on Mobile Financial Services in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh.

-Personnel should have excellent written and oral communication skills in English. / 25points
Corporate Capabilities and Past Performance
-The extent to which the organization has successfully performed similar work in the past, particularly in Bangladesh.
-The proposed management structure is reasonable and sufficient to implement this work.
-Proposed staff person(s) who will be responsible for implementation have the relevant skills and past experience to successfully complete the assignment. / 10 points
Presence in Bangladesh
-The extent to which the organization is operational in Bangladesh (i.e. has an office in country, has staff in country, or has prior experience in country) and the degree to which the Offeror relies on local personnel vs international consultants / 10 points
Cost Application
-Reasonableness of proposed budget based on scope of activities being proposed
-Summary budget, detailed budget, and budget notes included
-Signed FHI 360 biodata forms included
-In local currency, follows budget template (see Attachment A) and indicates inclusion/exclusion of any applicable taxes. Total price will be evaluated by FHI 360. In evaluating the proposed budget, FHI 360’s concerns include determining whether:

Proposed price reflects a clear understanding of the requirements stated in this RFP, and is consistent with the various elements of the Offeror’sproposal.
Proposed price is reasonable in comparison with proposed prices received in response to the solicitation.
Proposed price is reasonable in comparison with prices with FHI 360’s independent cost estimate.

Unrealistically low or high proposed prices, initially or subsequently, may be grounds for eliminating a proposal from competition either on the basis that the Offerordoes not understand the requirement or the Offerorhas provided an unrealistic proposal. / 25points
TOTAL / 100 points

5TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Offerors are responsible for review of the terms and conditions described below. If relevant, particular attention should be paid to clauses regarding USAID geographic code, marking and branding requirements and equipment and commodity purchases.

5.1Source of Funding and Geographic Code

Any award issued under this RFP will be financed by USAID funding and will be subject to U.S. Government and USAID regulations. The authorized USAID geographic code for this RFP and any resulting award is Code 937. All commodities and services supplied under any subcontract resulting from this RFP must meet this geographic code in accordance with the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR §228.

5.2Withdrawal of Proposals

Offerors may withdraw proposals by written notice via email received at any time before award.

5.3Right to Select/Reject

FHI 360 reserves the right to select and negotiate with those firms/individuals it determines, in its sole discretion, to be qualified for competitive proposals and to terminate negotiations without incurring any liability. FHI 360 also reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received without explanation.

5.4Disclaimer

Offerors will not be reimbursed for the cost incurred in preparation and submission of a proposal. All preparation and submission costs are at the Offeror’s expense.
This RFP represents only a definition of requirements. It is merely an invitation for submission of proposals and does not legally obligate FHI 360 to accept any of the submitted proposals in whole or in part, nor is FHI 360 obligated to select the lowest priced proposal.
FHI 360 reserves the right to negotiate with any or all firms, both with respect to price, cost and/or scope of services.
FHI 360 reserves the right to independently negotiate with any offeror, or to make an award without conducting discussion based solely on the written proposals if it decides it is in its best interest to do so. FHI 360 reserves the right to fund any or none of the proposals received.
FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow solicitation instructions.
FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue multiple award based on the solicitation activities.
FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition
FHI 360 reserves the right to check applicant’s donor reference

5.5Offer Verification