Funding for RCTs of financial services innovations. From: Zahra Niazi [mailto:zniazi@poverty-action.org] Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 7:59 AM To: Kentaro Toyama Cc: Global Financial Inclusion Initiative Subject: Please Circulate: Call for Expressions of Interest- IPA Global Financial Inclusion Initiative Dear Kentaro, I hope this email finds you well. The Global Financial Inclusion Initiative at Innovation for Poverty Action has recently launched a call for Expressions of Interest to submit proposals on innovative products and programs that enhance poor households' access to and usage of improved financial tools, products, and services. We would really appreciate your help in circulating the email below along with the attachments I have included to individuals and institutions within your network who you think would be interested in submitting a proposal. Please let me know if you have any questions of concerns. Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Zahra * * * Call for Expressions of Interest - Global Financial Inclusion Initiative The Global Financial Inclusion Initiative (GFII) at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) invites Expressions of Interest (EOI) submissions from teams of researchers and practitioners who wish to conduct rigorous research on innovative products and programs that enhance poor households' access to and usage of improved financial tools, products, and services. The initiative focuses its research on three areas within the financial inclusion domain: savings, payments, and financial capability. EOI submissions will be assessed under two project categories: (1) Product Tests and (2) Product Evaluations. All submitted projects must demonstrate a clear hypothesis and a rigorous study design for a randomized evaluation. Innovative research projects building on existing field experiments will also be accepted under each category. For more information on the Call for Expressions of Interest and to download the application form, please visit http://www.poverty-action.org/financialinclusion/eoi2013. Deadline for Submission: 23 August 2013 Please direct all questions to gfii@poverty-action.org. Best regards, The GFII Team * * * The Global Financial Inclusion Initiative (GFII) manages two research funds: the Yale Savings and Payments Research Fund, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Citi IPA Financial Capability Research Fund, supported by the Citi Foundation. GFII welcomes EOIs that are relevant to the research agenda of either fund. The <http://www.poverty-action.org/microsavings> Yale Savings and Payment Research Fund (YASPR), supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and managed by IPA in collaboration with Yale University, supports studies on innovations encouraging and allowing the poor to save more towards their own life goals, and use innovative payment channels. With a focus on engaging new technologies and delivery channels such as mobile and agent banking, the projects under this fund study what works best for the poor in mobilizing savings and facilitating payments. The <http://www.poverty-action.org/financialcapability> Citi IPA Financial Capability Research Fund (FCRF), supported by the Citi Foundation, aims to contribute to the sparse evidence on ways to improve financial capability by supporting rigorous evaluations of promising interventions in three areas where financial service providers can act to improve the financial capabilities of potential and existing clients: product-linked financial education, incentives for behavior change, and product design to encourage appropriate use of financial instruments. -- Zahra Niazi |Manager, Savings <http://poverty-action.org/microsavings> & Payments Research Fund | Global Financial Inclusion Initiative <http://poverty-action.org/financialinclusion> | Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) <http://www.poverty-action.org> | skype ID: zahraniazi | Ph: 203-772-2216 Ext 219 | 101 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT 06510