RFP: Consulting Firm for Womens Market Assessment in Mexico and Peru
Position Overview
Position Summary
WWB Asset Management seeks an experienced consulting firm or consultant for a market assessment with a financial service provider with operations in Mexico and Peru.
Roles and Responsibilities
WAM is working on a technical assistance program with a digital financial services provider in Mexico and Peru to achieve the following objectives:
- To understand how the current product and service offering of the financial service provider addresses the needs of Women[1] customers and identify opportunities for improvements.
- To identify opportunities for the financial service provider to reach more low-income Women customers in Mexico and Peru through different outreach channels and across different retail industries.
This engagement involves in-depth analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. An organizational assessment will run in tandem with this market assessment and the consultant will be expected to coordinate any overlapping areas, such as interviews with senior management. Project management will be supported by WAM. The main activities and components that we expect from this consulting partnership are listed below.
Research Goals
- Understand the partner’s market and operating environment.
- Understand key strategic priorities of the financial service providers and management, as well the concerns and challenges for implementing those, especially with regard to reaching more Women customers.
- Understand first-hand experiences of Women customers of the financial service provider through individual interviews and focus groups with existing customers.
- Understand the institution, its strengths and how to build on them relative to serving Women customers.
- Identify opportunities to increase adoption and usage of the partner’s services by Women customers
- Identify new potential target groups of Women customers and appropriate customer acquisition channels
- Identify opportunities to develop and implement new products and services.
- Gather and review secondary research on:
- Current financial product and service offering available to Women micro-entrepreneurs, with a special focus on digital financial products and services offered in the market
- Conduct 40 – 50 individual stakeholder interviews and 5 – 7 focus groups with potential customers, influencers, competitors, regulators and staff.
- Identify trends and opportunities to reach women- understand their need for products and services, as well as barriers and behaviors driving purchasing decisions.
Quantitative Research
- Identify key customer segments and behavior patterns by gender, using data analytics based on data provided by the financial service provider.
- Analyze demographic and individual-level purchase and usage data to identify key customer segments and behavior patterns by gender.
- Analyze transaction data for gender trend identification.
Strategic recommendations and development of Gender Action Plan
- Create a set of recommendations on how the financial service provider can improve current products and service offerings as well as delivery mechanisms to reach more women customers, including priority actions, key performance indicators and accountability mechanisms.
- Work with WAM team to develop a Gender Action Plan that will be co-owned by the institution’s management.
- The resulting Gender Action Plan should be:
- Aligned with organizational business priorities and culture
- Locally relevant
- Integrative, building on work that is underway
- Informed by diverse perspectives including level, gender identity, role, and tenure
- Outcome-driven and financially sustainable
- Actively supported by the leadership team
- Built on strengths and focused on closing gaps
Logistics
- Coordinate all logistics related to the interviews (securing space, refreshments, recruitment of participants, any necessary local permissions, and provision of participant compensation/incentives) for both in-person and phone interviews. Some of these activities are listed below in more detail.
- Venues: Identify and secure research venues for sessions. Venues should be neutral, quiet locations that offer privacy, are easily accessible by participants, and acceptable for cultural norms for women; Two-way mirrors are not required; and audio recording of sessions may be required.
- Incentives: Arrange for financial compensation (travel reimbursement) for all participants as applicable
Participant Recruitment
- Successfully recruit participants for group sessions and/or individual interviews.
Arrange for a convenient time and location with the participant to participate in the research and follow up with this person to ensure availability.
Arrange for a private place where participants can discuss sensitive topics without fear of being overheard by family, co-workers, or workplace supervisors.
- Number of participants and method of participant selection will be determined at time of qualitative research and may be informed by quantitative surveys or other inputs.
Facilitation, transcription and coding
- Conduct focus group sessions and interviews with women and men, using a semi-structured or structured discussion guide. WAM will provide sample guides for interviews.
- Pilot questions on the interview guide and share results from the pilot with WAM.
- Audio record each interview and share English transcripts with WAM. Transcripts should ideally be shared within 48 hours of the completion of each research day to ensure that the content is aligned with the expectations of the WAM team.
Provide all raw notes from the interviews, including any audio or video recordings.
Participate in regular discussions with the WAM team to discuss emerging themes and reflect on the research approach.
- Identify and hire one or two interpreters for simultaneous translation to participate in all research sessions, as needed.
Analysis
- Analyze session transcripts through inductive themes analysis.
- Develop PowerPoint deck detailing key themes and findings, including breakdown by any relevant segments and geographies. Provide in-depth analytic content from the analysis.
[1] All female identifying persons
Preferred Qualifications
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with financial inclusion projects in the financial service industry in Latin America, preferably Mexico and Peru.
- Experience analyzing qualitative and quantitative research related to access and usage of financial services, with a special focus on women customers and digital financial services.
- Deep understanding of issues around women’s financial inclusion as well as broader issues that women specifically face.
- Experience conducting qualitative research in the form of interviews and focus groups with low-income women.
- Proactive project management skills with strong attention to detail.
- Flexibility and ability to adapt to changes in project timelines and needs.
- Experience working in a multilateral and cross-time-zone team to meet deliverables.
- Commitment to delivering excellent quality results that can have a meaningful impact for women.
- Fluency in English and Spanish required
- Availability to attend regular calls with WAM staff. Meeting hours need to be flexible sometime between 8 am – 6 pm EST.
How to Apply
TO APPLY
Please submit your application, including the following components, by July 10, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST at the latest.
*** Only firms with ability to work in Latin America will be selected for this consultancy ***
Applications should include:
- Cover Letter
- A document that shows previous experiences of the firm in conducting relevant projects
- Resume or CV of the main people who will be involved in the project
- Filling out the fee breakdown template (please fill out and submit the form in Excel sheet format using this Do not save the template as pdf, spreadsheet is required)
- Filling out the research activity breakdown template showing recent projects (please fill out and submit the form in Excel sheet format using this link. Do not save the template as pdf, spreadsheet is required)
- Three references
*** Applications should be submitted in English ***
If you have any questions:
- Please send your question(s) in English no later than June 17, 2024 to km@womensworldbanking.org
- Please include in the e-mail subject line “RFQ: Consulting Firm for Mexico and Peru.”
This RFQ does not guarantee or commit Women’s World Banking to proceeding with the above described work. Due to the overwhelming responses not all candidates will be contacted.
Women’s World Banking is an equal opportunity employer for all regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.
Women’s World Banking will be unable to contract with any individual who is a US citizen or resident without an LLC or LP or similar structure.
About Women's World Banking
We believe in being a force for the greater good, devoted to accelerating and growing the financial inclusion of women. With rapidly changing markets, influenced by technology and social behavioral expectations, we are embarking on a new chapter to transform the way we design and implement solutions.
For over 40 years, Women’s World Banking has partnered with financial institutions, showing them the benefit of investing in women as customers. We equip these institutions with in-depth research and data driven insights to develop financial products and educational programs. While our clients are financial service providers, our mission is to engage consumers – women who are marginalized by financial systems.
Women’s World Banking and WWB Asset Management is an equal employment opportunity for all regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.
