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The Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility for Central America and the Caribbean (RIFF-CAC)Application FormDigital Readiness Assessment (DRA)Overview of an Upgrade ProjectBackground information: The Swiss Development Corporation and the European Investment Bank fund the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility for Central American and the Caribbean (RIFF-CAC), which launched operations in January 2018 and is working to build capacity and improve practice in social performance management (SPM) in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The Social Performance Task Force is managing the RIFF-CAC, in collaboration with REDCAMIF, the regional network for Central America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean. One type of funding that the RIFF-CAC offers is co-financing to financial service providers (FSPs) who would like to implement a digital readiness assessment. See below for a description of this activity. Description of a "digital readiness assessment": A digital readiness assessment is an evaluation of a financial service provider’s readiness to undergo a digital transformation. The process involves not only an evaluation of current gaps and weaknesses, but also a clarification of the FSP’s goals for a digital transformation and its priorities among its various goals, in order to inform a plan of action. The plan of action that results from the readiness assessment ideally will both list the steps to be taken and identify what organizational competencies are needed for digital transformation. Ideally, the assessment and findings will also address the change management process, since undergoing a major change organizationally requires careful planning, communication, and oversight in order to minimize resistance, confusion, and mistakes or delays in implementation. Though every assessment will differ according to the context, some common areas for assessment are listed in the grading tool shown in Annex 1.Duration of project: The timeframe will vary by institution and availability of the consultant but generally should take between two weeks and three months. Sharing experience from your project: The RIFF-CAC requires all financial institutions who receive co-financing to share information on their experiences, results, and lessons learned, with the RIFF-CAC. Peer learning is essential to advancing practice in the microfinance sector. These deliverables will be treated as confidential.?Eligibility: All financial service providers are welcome to apply. Language: The reporting you do to the RIFF-CAC on the results of your project must occur in English or Spanish.Cost: The cost of a digital readiness assessment varies by project, according to the size of the institution and the depth and complexity of the assessment it requests. The RIFF-CAC will co-finance no more than 50% of the total cost of your project, up to a maximum grant of US$18,000. Your institution will be responsible for the remaining 50% of the cost of the project. RIFF-CAC procedure to disburse co-financing grant: The RIFF-CAC will not disburse the co-financing grant to an institution on the date when its application is approved. Instead, it will wait until a Memorandum of Understanding is signed and the institution launches the project and begins to incur project costs. Additionally, RIFF-CAC will pay third-party vendors directly. This means that a portion, or all, of the co-financing may be paid directly to a third party (e.g. the consultant or company that performs the DRA) instead of deposited in the account of the institution. In cases where it is not possible for the RIFF-CAC to pay third-party vendors directly, the institution must pay those vendors directly and then submit receipts to the RIFF-CAC for reimbursement. Project start and end dates: A question in the application form below asks you for your preferred start date of the project, and also to describe any time constraints you have. The RIFF-CAC will review applications and do its best to make grants at a time that fits your schedule. You will also need to provide the expected end date of your project.Deadline to submit application: None. RIFF-CAC accepts applications on a rolling basis, though the steering committee meets only quarterly to review applications.Questions for the ApplicantPlease provide the following information about you:First name: Last name: Email address: Skype name (optional): Phone number, with country code (optional): Country of residence: What is your preferred language to work in (please answer English, French, or both)? What is your job title? Please provide the following information about the institution you work for:Name of your institution: Country(ies) where your institution works: Organizational Information. Please submit information on your institution to the RIFF-CAC in any one of the following formats:Has your institution filled out the SPI4? If yes, please submit your results.Has your institution ever received a social rating? If yes, please submit your (most recent) social rating report.Please answer the questions listed below:What is the legal structure of your organization?: In what year was your institution founded?: Does your institution have a social mission? If yes, please specify: [If applicable] How many open savings accounts does your institution have? [If applicable] How many active borrowers does your institution have? [NB: "active borrower" = borrower with at least one outstanding loan]: Products and services. Please provide a summary description of the types of products and services that your institution offers: General financial information. Please submit, along with your completed application form, a copy of your institution's income statement for the previous fiscal year. If this will not be possible, please explain why: Describe Your Reasons for Wanting a Digital Readiness Assessment. Please describe your reasons for wanting this assessment. How will this benefit your institution? How will it benefit your clients? Please note specifically if you have already identified any digital products or services that you want to offer, or any problems you currently are encountering that you would hope a digital transformation would address. Institutional buy-in. Please describe the level of support and engagement of the leadership of your institution (e.g., board, senior management) in this project: Previous experience with digital transformation and/or assessment of readiness (see annex I for areas commonly considered in a DRA): Have you previously, either formally or informally, assessed your readiness for digital transformation or attempted any steps in the digital transformation process? If yes, please describe.Declaration of ability to co-finance. Explain specifically which funds or resources your institution will use to pay its share of the overall cost. Start date. When would you like to begin this assessment? Please indicate your preferred month(s) and year. Availability. Are there any weeks or months in the upcoming year when you would NOT be available to implement this assessment? Please explain: TA provider: You may select the TA provider with whom you would like to work on this project. You may consult the SPTF TA database () or email SPTF directly (info@) to find a provider. Additionally, see below for a list of some companies that offer digital readiness assessments:Amarante Consulting. Contact: Sahana ARUN KUMAR, sahana@)fin-BITS. Contact: Tim Niepel (niepel@fin-)MicroSave Consulting. Contact: Anup Singh, Anup@ If you would like to use a TA provider not included in the resources mentioned above, please submit that person’s name, daily rate, and CV for review and approval.Budget and action plan. Please contact the TA provider you would like to use to conduct this assessment and ask them to submit in writing a proposed budget, timeline, and action plan for the assessment, and submit those documents to the RIFF-CAC. Learning from peers is a valuable tool to help the microfinance sector advance practice throughout the world. For this reason, the RIFF-CAC requires any financial service provider that receives co-financing to commit to giving feedback to the RIFF-CAC on the project. The feedback mechanism will include both speaking to RIFF-CAC staff about your experiences at minimum at the project end, as well as submitting written responses to a project evaluation form. You must also submit the assessment report and related action plan to the RIFF-CAC. Please write your initials at the end of the following statement, to confirm you understand this rule and agree to it.I agree to provide feedback to the RIFF-CAC on my institution's experiences implementing an upgrade project co-financed by the RIFF-CAC. I understand that I am required to provide feedback through two channels: a) conversations with RIFF-CAC staff, and b) written responses to a project evaluation form. I understand that RIFF-CAC will not share this information publicly without my consent. [Your initials]: I agree to submit to the RIFF-CAC the assessment report and action plan. [Your initials]: Instructions for submitting the application:Please type (preferred) or write neatly answers to all questions in this application.Once you have completed the application, please email the following documents to ffricac@ and put "Application to RIFF-CAC " as your subject line:your application form, filled outyour institution's income statement for the previous yearan action plan for this projecta budget for this projectCV(s) of the TA provider(s) you propose to hire, if required (see question 11, above)letter or email from the TA provider(s) you propose to hire, stating his/her/their fees, dates of availability, and interest in doing the project______________Please note that RIFF-CAC will reply to you upon receipt of your application, to confirm that we have received it. The RIFF-CAC steering committee meets quarterly to review applications. Therefore, you will receive notice of whether your application was approved no later than three months after the date when you submitted it. Thank you for your interest.Annex 1: Grading ToolAttributeAspectsResponse (Yes/No)Score (Yes =1; No=0)StrategyA digitisation strategyYes1Governance commitment to digitisationYes1Management commitment to digitisationYes1Funds allocated to digitizationYes1Staff buy-in for digitizationYes1Business plan is aligned to digitisation strategyYes1ProductsDigital products designedYes1Digital products testedYes1Digital products implementedNo0ProcessesDigital onboarding of customersYes1Digital field applicationsNo0Digital flow of documentationsYes1Automated credit scoring Yes1Digital monitoringNo0Digital repaymentsYes1TechnologyA technology team existsYes1Systems needs identifiedYes1Connect with APIsYes1Mobile money interfaceYes1Agent banking interfaceYes1Cloud computingYes1Data warehousingYes1AnalyticsData mining and analytics in placeYes1GIS monitoring of staff and clientsNo0Data analytics tools for agentsYes1Data analytics used for clients and staff managementYes1MarketingAutomated SMS for informationYes1USSDYes1AppYes1Social mediaYes1ChannelsATMsYes1POSYes1AppsYes1AgentsYes1USSDYes1CollaborationsFintechsYes1CRBsYes1Technology CompaniesYes1Remittance providersYes1Insurance providersYes1Risk managementEnterprise Risk Management Solution in placeYes1A risk team in placeYes1Risk and fraud testing conductedYes1Risk and fraud mitigation strategies in placeYes1TOTAL SCORE40GRADEIntermediate<10 = Beginner10-40 = Intermediate>40 = Expert ................
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