The demise of Australia’s first licensed neobank, Xinja, was a “successful failure” because all deposits were returned, banking regulation boss Wayne Byres said, while revealing that more than a dozen new bank applications are in the works.

The Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority chairman told The Australian Financial Review Banking Summit that reports of the death of neobanking were premature, notwithstanding Xinja’s collapse and the looming acquisition of 86 400 by National Australia Bank.