SHIFT
SHAPING INCLUSIVE
FINANCE TRANSFORMATIONS
The SHIFT Challenge Fund second
window challenges financial services
providers and real economy actors
to develop or scale-up innovative
and sustainable business models,
and cross-sectors partnerships,
for advancing women’s financial
inclusion in Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Myanmar and Viet Nam.
The Challenge Fund is looking to cofinance innovative business models
and/or cross-sector partnerships with a
commercially sustainable business plan
to increase access to appropriate and
affordable financial services for women
(women as consumers, employees,
business owners, etc.).
SHIFT’s Challenge Fund invites proposals
that identify key market gaps to financial
access for women and that offer ideas to
bridge these gaps. The Challenge Fund
will provide grants to enhance the risk/
return assessment of financial providers
for proposals that demonstrate both
innovation and scalability. SHIFT aims
at co-financing partnerships composed
of business intermediaries in the
real economy (for instance garment
factories, agriculture input suppliers,
hotels chains, international/regional/
national companies with a broad supply
chain in CLMV including many womenowned SMEs as suppliers, etc.) and
financial providers. Business models
will ideally also include technology
providers enabling lower transaction costs
and data collection and/or insurers to
mitigate the risk of diversion of loans to
other purposes.
Proposals should focus on new and
innovative business models and
approaches, or they should focus on
scaling up an existing business model/
approach to a potentially large number of
women clients.
Who can apply?
EXAMPLE PROJECT #1
Automated
salary
payments
• Licensed financial institutions (banks and
non-bank financial institutions, including stateowned financial institutions), financial service
providers, registered companies from real
economy sectors (incl. factories, hotel chains, agriculture equipment providers, seed suppliers,
telecom operators, women agriculture cooperatives, recycling pants, energy providers, etc.), ICT
services providers for financial access, and federations/associations (in consortium with businesses and/or financial institutions) are eligible.
Garment Factories
Wages deposited on
formal accounts
Financial Service
Provider
Women
Employees
Savings and credit
service utilisation
Large Company
• The project idea should contain either an innovative approach or a scaling up approach,
aiming to reach an increased number of women
with financial services.
Financial Service
Provider
• Applicants may be registered in CLMV or foreign, provided the project is carried out in CLMV
and that they possess the appropriate license for
operating in CLMV.
Advance
payments to
supply chain
actors
Improved
supplier quality
and resilience
Access to new markets
• Successful applicants will be selected through
a transparent and competitive process, and if
chosen are required to contribute 30–50% of
project budget.
SME
SME
SME
Women-Owned
Suppliers
About SHIFT:
UNCDF’s Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations (SHIFT) programme is a financial-market
facilitation, technical assistance and funding facility for the ASEAN region. SHIFT aims to facilitate
the transition of low-income people’s use of financial services from informal mechanisms to
formal, regulated and higher value services. The SHIFT programme aims to assist 6 million
low-income consumers, micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises, especially
women, in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) to use well-regulated and
affordable financial services by 2020.
The SHIFT Challenge Fund Facility advances women’s economic empowerment and market
participation by unlocking financial markets. SHIFT uses innovative financing mechanisms to
extend investments in last-mile financial structures, while creating opportunities for technology
and information to improve the customer journey.
Supported by:
SHIFT
SHAPING INCLUSIVE
FINANCE TRANSFORMATIONS
• The lead applicant should have a minimum of
3 years of operations and statutory account(s).
• The project must have a duration of one
to three years and be implementable in 2016–
2018.
EXAMPLE PROJECT #2
Financial
services
• Joint proposals from consortia are strongly
encouraged, including financial providers, businesses, and service providers.
Key dates
• Applications can be submitted from
22 February to 15 April 2016. Applications
received after the deadline will be ineligible
for this round. The application template will be
posted on the SHIFT website from 21 February.
• Information workshops will be held in
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Viet Nam and Myanmar in
March 2016.
An information note is posted on SHIFT’s
website shift.uncdf.org with more
details for potential applicants.
The SHIFT team can also be contacted at:
• [email protected]
• facebook.com/UNCDF
• twitter.com/UNCDFSHIFT
• #WESHIFT