Expert for Fintech Scoping in Montenegro

As one of the most innovative approaches in the world of payments and banking, Fintech encompasses a wide range of applications and business models, ranging from mobile banking and insurance to cryptocurrencies and investment applications. It refers to the use of software and digital platforms to provide financial services to consumers, in order to ultimately create benefits by increasing consumer benefits and business opportunities.  This sector has experienced great growth after the economic crisis, as barriers to entry into this field have been significantly reduced along with higher inflows of investment capital and the development of new technologies. One of the driving factors is that many traditional banks are proponents and adopters of new technology, actively investing in fintech start-ups and through the digitization of services providing digitally minded customers with efficiency, accountability, and reliability. Countries are investing more and more to make these systems available, but this primarily requires reliable information to benchmark the scene and solid ground on which to base policy. Government needs to have a clear picture of global trends and local supply and demand, as well as understanding of how they can help Fintech to succeed. It is necessary to identify characteristics and emerging areas of innovation considering four attributes essential to a Fintech ecosystem: talent, capital, policy, and demand, and with this framework in place to assess international and regional best practices. 

Given that the process of digital transformation in Montenegro is ongoing, the Government has begun to define plans and programs for the improvement of technologies and digital services and tools in the finance sector. In the forthcoming period, Government plans to look at the market, capacities, and opportunities, to intensify the development and progress in this field in order to establish national sustainable digital financing ecosystem that integrate SDG priorities and planning with the governance and market development of digital financing solutions. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the additional potential and importance of transformation/digitalization of financing for citizens and businesses. Transformation in the financial sector should be accompanied by the provision of FinTech space as well as the development of a flexible and risk based regulatory approach to FinTech technologies. To achieve this, it is necessary to create the enabling environment for access to affordable financial services and sparking the innovation, at the same time raising awareness of the importance of digitalization in financing sector.

Objectives of the assignment:

The objective of the assignment is to do a scoping mission of Fintech potential in Montenegro. The mission should include ecosystem mapping for the development of Fintech services and tools, identify the barriers and risks, capacities, demand and perspectives. The consultant will be responsible to create a roadmap that will include the directions of development, recommendations on an implementable strategy and define activities to achieve results and assess the impact of FinTech development for achieving the SDGs in Montenegro.

Job content:

Under the direct supervision of UNDP Project Manager and under the guidance of UNDP Governance Team Leader and the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

• Develop a detail action plan and methodology for a scoping mission of Fintech in Montenegro

• Conduct the assessment of the Fintech ecosystem inclusive of:

1. Market assessment – market size, trends, demand, key underlying growth drivers for digital finance, as well as obstacles impacting the Fintech market and assess the future market challenges and perspectives
2. Assessment of the FinTech players in the ecosystem – range of stakeholders including entrepreneurs/start-ups and associated firms, investors, intermediaries like incubators and accelerators, innovation hubs, co-working spaces, mentoring networks, and relevant government institutions, financial institutions, considering the potential threat of other players in the ecosystem such as traditional banks, Fintech players, including financial services or technology companies
3. Assessment of human and digital capacities for the development of Fintech in Montenegro
4. Assessment of the Government and regulatory scenarios impacting the players in the Fintech – Montenegro Government’s current approach to digital innovation, inclusive of skills development, government interventions, public administration digital services, interaction with private sector, analysis of the policies that will govern and have an impact on the Fintech business 
5. Asses the implications of European Central Bank plans to launch the digital version of common currency used in 19 members of Euro zone in relation to Fintech deployment in Montenegro 
6. Risk assessment 
7. Development directions by interacting with key Fintech industry stakeholders, including Government and private sector.
8. Review the following segments as related to Fintech in Montenegro: payments, lending, saving and deposits, insurtech, investments management, financial planning and advisory, capital raising, b2b tech providers, market support services, analyse the competitive landscape in each identified category and assess the different business models in operation for each segment
9. Develop Roadmap for FinTech deployment in Montenegro encompassing the following: 

      o Identify catalytic opportunities for harnessing digitalization in aligning financing with the SDGs inclusive of those are likely to make the       biggest impact on the financial services sector in Montenegro 

      o Showcase the best experiences from the region and the world in FinTech development from the ground

      o Provide key findings and recommendations for the development of FinTech in Montenegro which is conducive for achieving the SDGs

      o Develop scenarios for Fintech deployment in Montenegro

• List key steps for achieving the digital finance transformation in Montenegro Present the draft analysis and recommendations to Government, UNDP and other key stakeholders to validate the findings

• Prepare Final report on all activities undertaken under this assignment provided, highlighting main results achieved.

Deliverables:

It is expected from the consultant to coordinate and implement above mentioned tasks, in order to deliver:

• Action plan and methodology for a scoping mission of Fintech in Montenegro
• Assessment of the Fintech ecosystem in Montenegro with the analysis of Fintech segments following the tasks from the job content
• Roadmap and scenarios with key findings and recommendations for the development of Fintech in Montenegro inclusive of the case studies from the region and the world in FinTech development 
• Presentation of analysis and recommendations to Government, UNDP and other key stakeholders
• Final report on all activities undertaken under this assignment provided, highlighting main results achieved.

Timing and reporting: 

The consultant will work under direct supervision of the UNDP Project Manager and under the guidance of UNDP governance Team Leader and Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare. The consultant will be responsible to prepare the Final report on all activities undertaken under this assignment provided, and it should contain sufficient detail and information that would allow for the appraisal of the effectiveness to date of the assignment’s activities.    

Time duration and travel:

The local consultant will be engaged 50 days in the period from September 20 to November 30, 2021. The consultant will work online with anticipated 15 days in Podgorica and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare. The travel costs and Daily Living Subsistence Allowance costs should be included in the lump sum figure.

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Excellent communication skills, facility in working with teams and capacity to compose clear and readable narrative reports;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Excellent organizational and time management skills;
• Knowledge Management and Learning;
• Shares knowledge and experience; 
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills; 
• Ability to perform a variety of standard tasks related to Results Management, including collecting of documentation, data entering, preparation of revisions, filling, provision of information; 
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills; 
• Ability to work independently and in a team.

Education:

• University degree in Economics/Finance or related

Experience:

• Minimum ten years of working experience in the relevant field
• Proven Expertise in Fintech policy and regulatory issues
• Deep and demonstrable research and/or practical experience in FinTech, including analysis of technology, business models, financial infrastructure, and regulation; experience of conducting landscaping exercises preferably within the Fintech sector, or other related sectors
• Extensive and proven track record demonstrating understanding of the Montenegrin market and related nuances of implementing financial sector policy reform in the Montenegrin context will be considered as an advantage 
• At least two assessments/research conducted for Fintech development in different countries
• Experience in working with public sector and financial industry stakeholders including working groups of public authorities as well as private sector players
• Knowledge regarding trends in digital transformation topics will be considered as an advantage 

Language:

• Excellent command of spoken and written English language. 

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• Technical criteria weight – 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
• Financial criteria weight – 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by September 12, 2021 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section “Description of Responsibilities”.