Country:   Cooks Islands 50 days distributed over 3 months Homebased with travel to Avarua, Cook Islands  Description of the Assignment:  UNCDF is seeking an international/local consultant to support the Government of the Cook Islands in planning and designing an improvement plan to address current payment system challenges. The consultant will work closely with government stakeholders and relevant partners to analyse existing issues, identify gaps, and recommend practical, innovative solutions that align with the countrys financial inclusion and economic development goals. The consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks: Conduct stakeholder mapping • Identify and engage key stakeholders: central bank, government agencies, commercial banks, financial institutions, payment service providers, and user groups (consumers, businesses, etc.) Market assessment: • Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current payment landscape in the Cook Islands, examining existing payment systems, infrastructure, and the regulatory framework. This should include an assessment of retail transactions, interoperability, and interbank settlement processes, summarized into a report. • Identify market gaps, challenges, and opportunities for implementing payment system improvements tailored to the needs of the Cook Islands. • Conduct surveys and consultations to understand user needs and adoption challenges for financial institutions and end users Assessment of regulatory compliance and governance: • Review existing laws related to payments, e-money, and data protection. • Review any laws in support of digital payments, including provisions for digital payments, electronic money, and mobile banking, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), cybersecurity, and consumer protection etc. • Provide brief recommendations for amendment existing or draft of new laws to support the payment system improvements Stakeholder engagement: • Engage with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, internal affairs, the Financial Supervisory Commission, bank working groups and non-bank financial institutions. • Conduct workshops, focus groups, and interviews to ensure stakeholder buy-in and alignment with project goals. Development of Shared Vision and Roadmap: • Develop a shared vision and roadmap for payment system improvements, outlining the projects goals, objectives, key system requirements and implementation strategy. • Through consultative process collect feedback from all relevant stakeholders and public bodies, and prepare final Roadmap for adoption Proposal should be submitted directly in the portal no later than indicated deadline. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing via messaging functionality in the portal. UNCDF will respond in writing including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry. Please indicate whether you intend to submit a bid by creating a draft response without submitting directly in the system. This will enable the system to send notifications in case of amendments of the tender requirements. Should you require further clarifications, kindly communicate using the messaging functionality in the system. Offers must be submitted directly in the system following this link: http://supplier.quantum.partneragencies.org  using the profile you may have in the portal. In case you have never registered before, you can register a profile using the registration link shared via the procurement notice and following the instructions in guides available in UNDP website: https://www.undp.org/procurement/business/resources-for-bidders.  Do not create a new profile if you already have one. Use the forgotten password feature in case you do not remember the password or the username from previous registration.