REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
Implemented by:
Program:
mSTAR, Grants to support the transition from cash to
mobile and electronic payments in Bangladesh
RFA No:
3569-018-001-2014-01
Date of Issuance:
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Grant Solicitation Workshop:
Monday, May 12, 2014
Due Date for Questions:
17:00 UTC+6, Thursday, May 17, 2014
Response to Questions:
Tuesday, May 22, 2014
Closing Date:
17:00 UTC+6, Thursday, June 5, 2014
Estimated Award Date:
September 2014
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. 2
1 PURPOSE STATEMENT......................................................................................................... 3
2 OBJECTIVE............................................................................................................................. 3
3 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................... 3
4 INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS ....................................................................................... 4
4.1 Grant Solicitation Workshop........................................................................................... 4
4.2 Grantee Eligibility ............................................................................................................. 4
4.3 Funding ............................................................................................................................. 4
4.4 Application Submission Deadline ..................................................................................... 5
4.5 Submission Method for Applications ............................................................................... 5
4.6 Review Process ................................................................................................................ 5
4.7 Application Contents ....................................................................................................... 5
4.8 Evaluation Criteria............................................................................................................ 7
4.9 Grant Deliverables ........................................................................................................... 9
5 TERMS AND CONDITIONS .................................................................................................. 9
5.1 Grant Agreement ............................................................................................................. 9
5.2 Grant Provisions............................................................................................................... 9
5.2.1 Late Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals of Applications .............................. 9
5.2.2 False Statements in Offer ............................................................................................. 10
5.2.3 Conflict of Interest Clause ........................................................................................... 10
5.2.4 Prohibited Goods and Services.................................................................................... 10
5.2.5 Restricted Goods ......................................................................................................... 10
5.2.6 Certifications for Non-US, Non-Governmental Recipients ........................................ 10
5.2.7 Disclaimers ................................................................................................................... 11
5.2.8 Permission for Use and Disclosure ............................................................................. 11
6 ATTACHMENTS ................................................................................................................... 11
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
Implemented by:
1
PURPOSE STATEMENT
The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit applications for funding from
prospective grantees 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 RFA to USAID/Bangladesh implementing partners
to support their transition from cash to mobile and electronic payments (hereby referred to as
mobile/electronic payments) in Bangladesh. At the request of USAID/Bangladesh, the
mSTAR project is supporting the acceleration and adoption of mobile money and/or
electronic payments (e-payments) within the Mission’s programs, with a specific emphasis on
health and agriculture.
This RFA is issued as a public notice to ensure that all interested, qualified, and eligible
organizations have a fair opportunity to submit applications for funding. For the purposes of
this RFA, “organizations” are defined as non-governmental organizations.
2
OBJECTIVE
The mSTAR Bangladesh grants aim to fund USAID/Bangladesh Implementing Partners
working on Feed the Future or health projects that commit to testing mobile and electronic
payments, whether to a limited or extensive degree, in order to compare and document the
costs, challenges, and benefits of using cash versus mobile and electronic payments.
3
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This RFA is designed to solicit applications to award an estimated 2-4 fixed obligation grants
(FOGs) to provide support to USAID Bangladesh Implementing Partners working on Feed
the Future or health projects in their transition from cash to mobile and electronic payments.
To be considered for funding, grant applications must propose a method for answering the
questions in Section 4.6 Application Contents below.
Grant Recipients will be required to:
1. Develop a process to evaluate and implement the transition from cash to
mobile/electronic payments in the initial program area;
2. Use a framework to compare the cost of cash versus mobile/electronic payments in
the initial program area of focus (using the NetHope template provided by FHI 360, a
checklist, or a comparable format);
3. Track and report on mobile/electronic payment transaction histories and growth,
including the volume and number of transactions made by the grantee on a monthly
basis;
4. Describe the results of the comparative study, including a disaggregation of findings
by gender and previously banked vs. unbanked;
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5. Detail any challenges encountered (both on the side of the grantee and those receiving
payments) throughout the comparative study and transition from cash to
mobile/electronic payments and steps taken to address them. This should include, but
not be limited to, constraints related to gender, technological access and/or literacy,
and financial literacy;
6. Document key lessons learned; and
7. Identify next steps for scaling and replicating the organization’s use of
mobile/electronic payments instead of or in parallel with cash.
4
4.1
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS
GRANT SOLICITATION WORKSHOP
Dates: A grant solicitation workshop will be held on May 12 at 11 am. All applicants are
encouraged to attend.
Location: FHI 360 Conference Room, House 5, Road 35, Gulshan; Dhaka 1212,
Bangladesh
Confirmation: An e-mail confirming attendance must be sent to: arahman@fhi360.org.
Language: The workshop will be held in the English language.
4.2 GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to any non-governmental, non-US organization, non-profit or forprofit entity. To be minimally eligible for funding, applicants must 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 be currently implementing a USAID contract or cooperative
agreement in Bangladesh funded by Feed the Future or the Office of Population,
Health, Nutrition and Education.
 Organizations must have a DUNS number.
 Organizations must submit their application in English.
 Organizations must be able to complete implementation within the stated timeframe
of between six and nine months.
4.3 FUNDING
The mechanism for funding will be fixed obligation grants. The most recent USAID
provisions relating to FOGs may be found at http://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/300/303mat.
mSTAR anticipates awarding up to four (4) FOGs to Grantees under this RFA.
The total amount of funding available for all grants is USD $100,000. Funding amounts for
an individual grant under this RFA may range from USD $20,000-$30,000. Each grant will
have a term of no less than six months and no more than nine months. The assistance is
intended to provide support to selected organizations with costs associated with comparing
and documenting the costs, challenges, and benefits of using cash versus mobile and
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
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electronic payments. Payment will be issued for satisfactory completion of the milestones
outlined in the grant agreement.
4.4 APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Applications may be submitted at any time before 17:00 pm UTC+6 on the date specified on
page 1 of this RFA. Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered.
Additional opportunities for applying, however, may be made available in the future.
4.5 SUBMISSION METHOD FOR APPLICATIONS
Submit Questions and Applications electronically to: Ataur Rahman (arahman@fhi360.org)
with copies to: Josh Woodard (jwoodard@fhi360.org). mSTAR is not receiving paper
applications for this RFA. All questions and answers will be shared with all interested
applicants.
The email subject line should read “Application for Grants to support the transition from cash
to mobile and electronic payments in Bangladesh – [Name of Organization submitting
application]”.
Technical applications and attachments may be submitted in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF.
Budgets must be submitted in Microsoft Excel.
Technical Applications and Cost Applications must be submitted separately IN SEPARATE
EMAILS and clearly marked as such.
4.6 REVIEW PROCESS
Grant applications will be reviewed and grants awarded by an evaluation panel. FHI 360 will
lead and coordinate the evaluation panel. A technical evaluation committee will review all
technical applications on their Technical Approach, M&E Capacity, Scalability, Cost
Application, Personnel, and Use of Mobile Data Collection using the Evaluation Criteria
detailed below.
It is anticipated that awards will be made within two months after the submission deadline, as
stated on the cover of this RFA. Final negotiations and award will be managed by FHI 360.
FHI 360 reserves the right to make any number of awards or none at all. FHI 360 is not
responsible for any costs associated with the development of applications.
4.7 APPLICATION CONTENTS
Applicants will develop their applications based on their understanding of needs, their prior
institutional experience and their determination of the approaches that would be feasible and
successful. In all cases, applicants shall clearly explain the rationale for the proposed
approaches chosen.
Submissions must clearly state the objectives and the expected results of the program within
the life of the funding period, and define an implementation plan with a proposed time frame
and budget. On-going monitoring and reporting of the funded activities will be the
responsibility of the applicant.
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Technical applications should not exceed 6 pages and should be written in English.
Applications should include submission of a technical application with attachments and a cost
application. Applications must remain valid for at least six (6) months. The format should be
as follows:
Part A: Technical Application (Limit 6 pages)
Cover page (approximately 1 page)
1. Organization’s name:
2. Technical contact name:
3. Technical contact person’s position:
4. E-mail address:
5. Telephone number:
6. Name of USAID project in which your organization will use the grant to adopt and
evaluate the transition from cash to mobile/electronic payments:
7. Proposed initial program area of focus location:
8. Proposed period of performance
Technical responses (approximately 5 pages)
9. Please summarize the extent and nature of your organization’s use of cash payments
in the initial program area of focus or operations. Please include in this description
the current level of use of mobile and/or electronic payments by your organization in
this or other programs (e.g., would this be your first use of mobile/electronic
payments, an expansion of your use of mobile/electronic payments, etc.).
10. Please provide an overview of the types of individuals (i.e. beneficiaries, project staff,
partners) you plan to reach via mobile/electronic payments (i.e. Percent already
banked vs. unbanked, percent with access to a mobile phone, percent male and
female, etc.). In the event that specific information is not available, applicants should
provide a best-faith effort to provide realistic estimates.
11. Please identify the mobile and/or electronic payment system(s) (i.e. bKash, DBBL,
etc.) you plan to evaluate and use as a replacement for cash and describe any prior
experience you have with these systems. [Note: You can choose to evaluate more than
one system; prior experience is not a pre-requisite for responding to this RFA]
12. Identify the projected volume and value of cash payments that you plan to transition
to mobile and/or electronic payments in the initial program area of focus or in your
organization’s operations.
13. How do you define success for the use of mobile and/or electronic payments in the
proposed initial program area of focus? Please describe how you will measure and
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
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evaluate success (e.g., will you do a control case or evaluate either retrospectively or
prospectively)? What do you anticipate will be the dollar value of the payments you
transition toward the use of mobile and/or electronic payments?
14. How do you plan to employ mobile data collection techniques in conducting the
comparative study? If you do not plan to use mobile data collection, explain why.
Technical Attachments (Please submit the following attachments with the Technical
Application. Note that they do not count towards the 6 page limit)
1. Please complete “Tab 3 – Financial Costs” of Attachment A Payment Innovations
Costing Utility Analysis Tool. See Attachment B for Sample of this tool.
2. Please provide a timeline of key activities you will take to monitor and evaluate your
organization’s use of cash and mobile and/or electronic payments and to conduct the
comparative study during the grant term.
3. Please provide the CV of the staff person who will oversee the implementation of this
grant (maximum 3 pages).
Part B: Cost Application
1. Please submit a summary and detailed budget with budget notes in Microsoft Excel
identifying how you will allocate the grant funds during the grant term, including
proposed level of effort of any staff who will be working on this grant. Applicants can
include any costs associated with supporting their transition to mobile and/or
electronic payments (such as training, outreach, awareness raising, etc.) as long as
they are adequately justified in the budget narrative, with the exception of ongoing
transaction costs (i.e. bank fees, mobile money tariffs, etc.), which will not be covered
by this grant. See Attachment C for budget template.
2. Please include a signed bio data form for any proposed staff or consultants who have
a daily rate greater than $50 USD. See Attachment D for FHI 360 template.
4.8 EVALUATION CRITERIA
The criteria presented below have been tailored to the requirements of this RFA. A total of
100 points are possible for the complete application. The relative importance of each criterion
is indicated by approximate weight by points.
In evaluating the applications, FHI 360 will examine overall merit and feasibility, as well as
specific criteria relevant to each component as elaborated below. Up to four (4) awards will
be made to the overall highest scores to the responsible Applicant. Applicants should note
that these criteria: (1) serve as the standard against which all applications will be evaluated,
and (2) serve to identify the significant matters which applicants should address in their
applications.
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
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Evaluation Criteria
Technical Approach
- Clarity and appropriateness of proposed technical approach for transitioning
to mobile/electronic payments based on target population and cost relevance.
Comprehensiveness and plausibility of Costing Utility Analysis Tool
response.
M&E Capacity
- Whether the organization has the capacity to conduct a comparative study
between the use of cash and mobile/electronic payments (for example, by
employing a control group that continues to use cash)
Scalability
- The extent to which the use of mobile/electronic payments could be
expanded within the program beyond the initial area in which the
comparative study is conducted (i.e., the ability to scale) and different
programs (for example, from health to education) or in different geographies
within Bangladesh (i.e., the ability to replicate)
Personnel
- Relevant skills and experience of the proposed staff person who will be
responsible for implementing this FOG
Use of Mobile Data Collection
- The extent to which the organization plans to employ mobile data collection
techniques in conducting the comparative study, including geo-location of
payees.
Cost Application
- Reasonableness of proposed budget based on scope of activities being
proposed
- Summary budget, detailed budget, and budget notes included
- FHI 360 bio data included
- In Taka (with USD equivalent), follows budget template (see Attachment C),
indicates inclusion/exclusion of any applicable taxes. Total price will be
evaluated by FHI 360. In evaluating the proposed budget, FHI 360 concern
includes determining whether:
o Proposed price reflects a clear understanding of the requirements
stated in this RFA, and is consistent with the various elements of the
Contractor’s application.
o Proposed price is reasonable in comparison with proposed prices
received in response to the solicitation.
o Proposed price is reasonable in comparison with prices with the
independent cost estimate.
Unrealistically low or high proposed prices, initially or subsequently, may be
grounds for eliminating an application from competition either on the basis that
the Contractor does not understand the requirement or the Contractor has
provided an unrealistic application.
TOTAL
Supporting Documentation for Pre-Award Assessment/Site visits
Points
25 points
25 points
20 points
10 points
5 points
15 points
100
points
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
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At the conclusion of the evaluation process, any selected firm will be required to complete a
Financial Pre-Award Assessment in order for FHI 360 to ascertain that the organization has
the capacity to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed grant.
As part of the Pre-Award Assessment process the firm will also be requested to submit their
incorporated papers, certificate of registration and/or Tax ID number (TIN). Applicants may
be asked to submit additional documentation to illustrate that the organization has the
capacity to implement the grant. Site visits may be conducted by FHI 360 staff to evaluate
the organization in these areas.
4.9
GRANT DELIVERABLES
Under a Fixed Obligation Grant, payment is made against established milestones. Upon
selection, FHI 360 will work with the recipient to establish an appropriate milestone table
that reflects the activities to be completed in the program description.
Because a primary goal of the grant facility is to encourage other organizations to transition
to mobile/electronic payments by demonstrating both how to do so (e.g., suggested steps and
procedures) and the benefits from doing so, Grant Recipients will be required to share their
final report deliverables. Sensitive data may be protected by agreement between each Grant
Recipient and FHI 360.
5
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
5.1 GRANT AGREEMENT
A grant agreement will include the approved project description, approved budget, reporting
requirements and relevant provisions. Once executed it is a legally binding agreement
between FHI 360 and the recipient organization. Once the grant agreement is signed, it
cannot be modified without prior written approval from FHI 360. A sample grant document
is provided as Attachment E for informational purposes only.
5.2 GRANT PROVISIONS
FHI 360 is required to respect the provisions of the United States Foreign Assistance Act and
other United States laws and regulations. The Grant Program will be administered according
to FHI 360’s policies and procedures as well as USAID’s regulations for non-U.S. nongovernmental recipients. These include:
5.2.1 Late Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals of Applications
At the discretion of FHI 360s, any application received after the exact date and time specified
for the receipt may be considered ineligible for consideration.
Applications may be withdrawn by written notice via email received at any time before
award. Applications may be withdrawn in person by an organization or his authorized
representative, if the representative’s identity is made known and the representative signs a
receipt for the Application before award.
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5.2.2 False Statements in Offer
Vendors must provide full, accurate and complete information as required by this solicitation
and its attachments.
5.2.3 Conflict of Interest Clause
Applicants must provide disclosure of any past, present or future relationships with any
parties associated with the issuance, review or management of this solicitation and
anticipated award. Failure to provide full and open disclosure may result in FHI 360 having
to re-evaluate selection of a potential applicant.
5.2.4 Prohibited Goods and Services
Under no circumstances shall the recipient procure any of the following under this award, as
these items are excluded by the Foreign Assistance Act and other legislation which govern
USAID funding. Programs which are found to transact in any of these shall be disqualified:
a. military equipment;
b. surveillance equipment;
c. commodities and services for support of police or other law enforcement
activities;
d. abortion equipment and services;
e. luxury goods and gambling equipment; and
f. weather modification equipment.
5.2.5 Restricted Goods
Only those goods necessary for the accomplishment of milestone goals are explicitly
approved in the grant award and may be acquired and are subject to the provisions provided
in the Standard Provisions for Fixed Obligation Grants to Nongovernmental Organizations.
Currently it is not anticipated that grants will fund any of the items listed herein.
The following costs are restricted by USAID and require prior written approval from FHI 360
and USAID in order to be allowable costs:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
agricultural commodities;
motor vehicles;
pharmaceuticals;
pesticides;
fertilizer;
contraceptives
used equipment; and
U.S. Government-owned excess property
5.2.6 Certifications for Non-US, Non-Governmental Recipients
Certifications provided in Attachment F are required by FHI 360 and USAID and must be
signed by the authorized official, dated and included in the application.
Recipients will be required to comply with the content of the certifications as a part of the
grant agreement when/if funding is approved.
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5.2.7 Disclaimers
 FHI 360 may cancel solicitation and not award
 FHI 360 may reject any or all responses received
 Issuance of solicitation does not constitute award commitment by FHI 360
 FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow
solicitation instruction’s
 FHI 360 will not compensate offerors for response to solicitation
 FHI 360 reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without
further discussion
 FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue
multiple awards based on the solicitation activities.
 FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor application deficiencies that can be
corrected prior to award determination to promote competition
 FHI 360 will be contacting all offerors to confirm contact person, address and that the
bid was submitted for this solicitation.
5.2.8 Permission for Use and Disclosure
By way of submitting an application under this Call for competitive grants, the applicant
consents to the disclosure of the documents submitted by the applicant to the reviewers
involved in the selection process within FHI 360. FHI 360 reserves the right to not fund any
of the applications submitted.
6
ATTACHMENTS
The following documents under are considered part of this RFA.
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Payment Innovations Costing Utility Analysis Tool
Payment Innovations Costing Utility Analysis Tool Example
Budget Template
FHI 360 Biodata Form
Fixed Obligation Grant and Attachments
1. Schedule
2. Program Description
3. Milestone Certifications
4. Standard Provisions
F) Grant Certifications