Calls for Applications

RfA: Catalyzing the Digital Payments Ecosystem in North-East India

  • December 31, 2019

  • Calls for Applications

Summary

Applications due by January 6th, 2020 at 23:00 EST

What

The purpose of this request for applications (RFA) is to support the Government of India, represented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY), as a member of the Better Than Cash Alliance, in testing use cases that will drive adoption and usage of digital payments in North-East India.

Review and apply!

When

Applications should be returned to the Better Than Cash Alliance Secretariat by email no later than January 12th, 2020 at midnight (India time).

Who

Applications and any enquiries about this RFA should be submitted via email to amela.cosovic-medic@uncdf.org.

Please include in the subject line of the email: RFA Submission: Catalyzing the Digital Payments Ecosystem in North-East India – Towards a Digitally Empowered North East.

FAQs

What is the genesis of this ToR/RFP?

In June 2019, the Government of India released their strategy for a Digital North East 2022, which identifies digital payments as a key enabler to transform the lives of the 44 million people across the eight North East states[1] and “enhance their ease of living”. This initiative is in support to Government of India’s broader vision for the North East Region to understand the state of the digital payments ecosystem and opportunities to digitize payment streams by focusing on usage through merchant acceptance points and other applications of fintech innovations, in line with the recommendation from the FinTech Panel Report 2019.

[1] Northeast comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

The ToR/RFP talks about retail merchants (P2M). Could you give us some guidance as to which sub-segment of merchants is this targeted at? Is BTCA and other stakeholders open to considering other use-cases, especially those with an impact lens, say remittance, savings, etc.?

The key premise for this initiative is to work with the Government of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to understand how Government can drive digital payments beyond G2P already happening through the DBT Digitization. This includes looking at payments streams P2P and P2B, with an ecosystem assessment that identified opportunities for fintech and other innovations that solve the last-mile challenges of delivery and usage of digital payments.

Could you give us some guidance on relative prioritization between these key deliverables? How do you envisage these deliverables will be used?

The ToR mentions seven key deliverables, ranging from State of the industry assessment to Design sprints. State of the Industry will form a key piece of the deliverable, which will enable GoI to engage with relevant innovations to drive the digital payments agenda in the Region.

How much primary research is expected, if at all?

Primary research includes speaking to relevant stakeholders. There will not be any primary quantitative data gathering. Quantitative data used will be existing data from various agencies and stakeholders, especially private companies operating in the region anonymized, to run analysis for the assessment.

How much primary research is expected, if at all?

Primary research includes speaking to relevant stakeholders. There will not be any primary quantitative data gathering. Quantitative data used will be existing data from various agencies and stakeholders, especially private companies operating in the region anonymized, to run analysis for the assessment.

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