Digital Payments Specialist

Based in UNCDF, the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is a partnership of governments, companies and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth by:

• Advocating for the transition from cash to digital payments in a way that advances financial inclusion and promotes responsible digital finance.
• Catalyzing the development of inclusive digital payments ecosystems in member countries to reduce costs, increase transparency, advance financial inclusion-- particularly for women-- and drive inclusive growth.
• Conducting research and sharing the knowledge and experiences of our members to inform strategies for making the transition.

Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability, and security, as well as inefficiency.

Furthermore, the individuals who receive the cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector. This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.

Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women, while giving governments, the development community, and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often-safer means of disbursing payments. The Better Than Cash Alliance Team’s Core Values are the following:

• Achieving together
• Striving for excellence
• service oriented
• Results oriented.

For more information on BTCA, please visit the website: http://www.betterthancash.org/

The candidate will work under the supervision and direction of the Head of Asia Pacific and/or Deputy Managing Director of Alliance Secretariat. The candidate would be expected to travel within India and to other Alliance member countries as per need.

Engagement with Key Stakeholders in Government

• Maintain correspondence with government and other stakeholders to set up meetings, follow-up on advisory activities, etc. Implement initiatives as agreed with Central Government Ministries, State Governments, Central Bank and other similar organizations, private sector firms, international development organizations, etc., particularly focusing on responsible digital payments with a focus on Digital Public Infrastructure, gender, micro merchants, rural and informal enterprises, etc.
• Track progress of in-country initiatives and ensure liaison with management and procurement teams to ensure delivery of project milestones.

Contribute to in-country advisory work in India and other Asian countries, as needed, for members including governments, companies, international organizations:

• Lead discussions on responsible payments digitization initiatives with Alliance’s members in India.
• Contribute to exploring opportunities in other neighboring countries through research, scoping studies & stakeholder consultations, as needed, and in alignment with the Alliance strategy for Asia Pacific region.
• Lead on preparing initiative concept notes, seek inputs from relevant team members and experts, as needed, and present initiatives to various Alliance sub-Committees.
• Facilitate Alliance’s participation in national and international industry events, conferences, and workshops for advocacy on responsible digital payments and disseminate knowledge products.

Execution of quality Research

• Research and draft background notes for missions, meetings and/or presentations on topics related to responsible digitization of payments and industry updates, to support Alliance Secretariat’s senior level engagement with the leadership team of Alliance members.
• In partnership with the communications and M&E teams, track progress of the member as learning pieces for other members and Result Measurement Framework and keep abreast of trends and innovation related to digital payments and undertake background research to identify frontier issues to research.
• Undertake background research to identify frontier issues to research and share with wider team as part of learning strategy, and develop and maintain a pipeline calendar for bi-monthly learning sessions with the team.

Global Learnings Consolidation and Exchange/Knowledge building and Learning

• Active leadership on Learnings consolidation for Alliance payment streams, working closely with Regional Leads and Communications specialists.
• In collaboration with the Regional Leads, co-lead in driving the implementation of the Alliance Learning strategy including the distillation of lessons for all ongoing initiatives.
• In partnership with the communications, and advisory teams, keep abreast of global trends monthly on digital payments innovations and share with the wider team.
• Take active leadership in the facilitation of learning dissemination and institutionalization of insights across regions and payment streams, working alongside the communication specialists and leads.
• Engage with concerned Alliance colleagues and LMS vendor to ensure smooth running and updates of the contracted learning modules including a) onboarding, and b) UN Principles for Responsible Digital Payments.
• Lead discussions with key members to develop country specific launch strategies for launch and uptake of UN Principles online course.
• In partnership with Regional Leads, deliver Peer Exchanges for Alliance's members and co-organize at least 4 Peer Learning Exchanges during this contract. These could be virtual, in person, regional or global.