SOLICITATION NOTICE
D -- Iraqi Payment System
- Notice Date
- 5/28/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 519190
— All Other Information Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Treasury, Departmental Offices/Procurement Services Division (DO/PSD), Procurement Services Division (PSD), 1425 New York Avenue, Suite 2100, Washington, DC, 20220
- ZIP Code
- 20220
- Solicitation Number
- A04-22
- Response Due
- 6/14/2004
- Archive Date
- 6/29/2004
- Point of Contact
- Jennifer Johnson, Contract Specialist, Phone 202 622-8763, Fax 202 622-2343, - Steven Gordon, Contracting Officer, Phone 202 622-2341, Fax 202 622-2343,
- E-Mail Address
-
jennifer.johnson@do.treas.gov, steve.gordon@do.treas.gov
- Description
- The Department of the Treasury?s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) requests proposals for the planning, acquisition, installation, initial operation of the first two components of a nationwide Iraq Payment System (?IPS?) for the Central Bank of Iraq (?CBI): a Real Time Gross Settlement (?RTGS?) system for making interbank payments with immediate finality across the books of the Central Bank and an Automated Clearing House (?ACH?) system for processing files of payment instructions, both debits and credits, and settling on a net basis also across the books of the CBI. Initial operation will also include training the staffs of the CBI and other participant banks so that operational responsibility for IPS can be transferred to CBI. OTA seeks to have this activity completed within seven months of contract award. The primary goal in creation of the Iraq Payment System is to facilitate economic activity by providing efficient mechanisms for making and receiving payments with certainty and with minimum credit, liquidity and systemic risk to participants. A sound payment system contributes to a sound financial system. To fully achieve this, an IPS for CBI is required to be designed and implemented in a way that satisfies the functional requirements and the following policy objectives: Risks related to payment systems are well understood and managed by participants individually and for the system as a whole, across all payment system components. Settlement of domestic interbank obligations is achieved on a same-day basis. The IPS is open to all banks with accounts at the Central Bank of Iraq. The IPS is a reliable, secure, and integrated payment, clearing and settlement system that meets the current needs of Iraq and can grow to meet the changing and growing economy at an acceptable level of cost; The IPS may expand flexibly to suit Iraqi conditions by allowing for planned expansion in terms of additional future services such as securities settlement transactions, as well as geographical expansion, as appropriate The IPS is easily accessible and cost efficient. The IPS satisfies relevant international principles in regard to systemically important components such as the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems (CPSIPS). Attachment D contains a summary of the CPSIPS. 2. Objective OTA requires planning, acquisition, installation and initial operation for the first two components of a nationwide Iraq Payment System (?IPS?) for the Central Bank of Iraq (?CBI): a Real Time Gross Settlement (?RTGS?) system for making interbank payments with immediate finality across the books of the Central Bank and an Automated Clearing House (?ACH?) system for processing files of payment instructions, both debits and credits, and settling on a net basis also across the books of the CBI; as well as provision of related training to the staffs of the CBI and other participants banks. OTA also requires provision of training to staff of CBI and other participating banks so that operational responsibility for IPS can be transferred to CBI. OTA seeks to have this activity completed within seven months of contract award. Detailed information on RTGS requirements can be found at Attachment B. Detailed information on ACH requirements can be found at Attachment C. 3. Background The Central Bank of Iraq is responsible for providing payments clearance and settlement services to the commercial banks in Iraq. The Central Bank is also responsible for the regulation, licensing, and supervision of payment systems operated by parties other than the CBI. The existing payments clearing and settlement system in Iraq is manual and paper based. The primary payment instrument is the check. Checks are cleared through the CBI Head Office in Baghdad, Central Bank branches in Basra, Erbil, and Mosul, and State bank branches in Kirkuk and Hilla. The two large State banks also clear checks between themselves. Current accounts are maintained by the CBI for each bank and settlement of the inter-bank net positions is realized on the day a check clears. Return items are presented to the clearing rooms during subsequent clearing sessions. Direct intra-bank funds transfers can be undertaken on a same day basis using telephone or tested telex based payment order procedures. Clearing of local in-town inter-bank check payments take three to five working days. Clearing of out-of-town inter-bank check payments can take in excess of twenty days. The banking infrastructure of Iraq consists of 6 state-owned banks and 19 private banks. There are also a number of applications for new banking licenses. To date, nine private banks have obtained Central Bank approval to do international payments, remittances and letters of credit. With 143 functioning branches throughout the country, international payments/remittances are now estimated at more than $5 MM per day ($1.5 billion annually) and are growing. Informal arrangements with regional banks are being replaced with regular correspondent banking relationships and several private Iraqi banks have obtained lines of credit from regional banks in the $3MM to $10MM range, allowing them to begin financing private sector imports. In addition to expanding their activities, the private banks are seeking and evaluating all possible avenues to expand their capital to, at least, the minimum ID 10 billion (US$7.2MM) required to be in place by March 2005 under the new Banking Law. Iraq has two large state-owned banks, Rafidain and Al-Rasheed, that together account for about $1.8 billion in assets, or about 90 percent of the total assets in the banking system. These two commercial banks maintain 330 branches, of which about 300 branches are currently open or in the process of re-opening. Together, the two banks have more than 11,600 employees and 1.9 million depositors. Iraq also has four specialized state-owned banks: the Agricultural Cooperative Bank, the Industrial Bank, the Real Estate Bank, and the Socialist Bank for individuals. Collectively, the specialized banks account for less than 10 percent of the total assets in the banking system. They operate about 50 branches. Although originally established to serve specific sectors of the Iraqi economy, since 1997 these banks have been authorized to conduct general commercial banking activities. Therefore, they compete directly with the large state-owned banks and the private-sector banks. These specialized banks were previously engaged in a significant amount of government-directed lending. Three foreign banks have been selected to apply for licenses to establish or own banks in Iraq: Standard Chartered, HSBC, and National Bank of Kuwait. These banks are expected to begin operation before the end of 2004 and be active users of the IPS. Some automation has taken place within the banking system. CBI and the Trade Bank of Iraq have applied to become members of the SWIFT system. Several other banks are interested in using SWIFT. Most of the banks are also beginning to use the Visa Payment System which handles intra-Iraq individual and batch payments in Iraqi Dinars that settle on the CBI?s books on a net basis on the day following processing. The CBI and the Iraqi commercial banks recognize that the present domestic system is extremely limited in regard to the availability of payment instruments, is inefficient from a productivity perspective, is inconvenient to use from a customer perspective, and thus does not satisfy the needs of users in an evolving market economy. 4. Statement of Work The Contractor will plan, acquire, install, initially operate Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and an Automated Clearing House System (ACH) components of a nationwide inter-bank Iraq Payment System (IPS) operated by the Central Bank comprising a legal and regulatory framework, operating procedures, and IT systems used by the CBI and commercial banks to clear and settle payments. The Real Time Gross Settlement system is described in Attachment B The Automated Clearing House system is described in Attachment C. The contractor also will provide training to staff of CBI and other participant banks to permit transfer of operational responsibility for IPS to CBI. RTGS and ACH are expected to be used from approximately 35 locations: two Central Bank locations (a primary processing location and a backup processing location) and 25 other banks some of which will use the system from multiple locations. Each location will require training of from 5 to 10 people. Contractor will submit documentation including, but not limited to, the following: Project Plan (as part of proposal) Project Management Quality Assurance Plan Training Plan and Documentation (preliminary plan as part of proposal) Testing Plan (preliminary plan as part of proposal) System Architecture Hardware Configuration Interface/Integration Plan (including specifications for communications and applications interfaces) RTGS Functional Characteristics and diagram RTGS Technical Specifications RTGS User?s Manual (Technical and Functional) ACH Functional Characteristics and diagram ACH Technical Specifications ACH User?s Manual (Technical and Functional) The Contractor?s Project Plan cited above, will include: 1. the methodology, human, and material resources the Contractor intends to use in the design, management, co-ordination, and execution of all its responsibilities in the IPS system implementation; 2. the estimated duration and deadline for each major activity of the IPS system implementation including any required customization; 3. the major responsibilities of the CBI, IPS participants and other third parties involved in the supply and implementation of the IPS; 4. the means for coordinating the activities of each of the involved parties to avoid delays or interferences prejudicial to the implementation. Unless otherwise stated, contractor will submit all documentation in initial form no later than three months after contract award and in final form no later than seven months after contract award. To obtain a copy of this solicitation, please contact Jennifer Johnson.
- Place of Performance
- Address: IRAQ
- Record
- SN00594714-W 20040530/040528212427 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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