APRA is dealing with around 40 approaches from fintechs for a banking authority, with 14 seriously "in the process".Overall, APRA received 98 inquiries over banking licences between July 2018 and December 2019, APRA told the Senate's Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology.While there are as few as 14 fintechs dealing with APRA classified as "Applications received" there are a further 24 deemed "Pre-applications received."Even at 38, this number is probably lower than the guesswork going on in the sector around the level of demand for a neobank licence. And given the workload at APRA and the intensity of the assessment process, only a small number of fintechs could expect to stand a chance at securing approval for a banking licence by the end of this year.So far, half a dozen neobanks have received approval to enter the industry since APRA eased its licencing policies and established a specialist unit to cater to fintech boom a couple of years ago."The speed with which you move from getting the restricted licence to getting the full licence will depend on how fast you develop your products and at what stage you entered," Melisande Waterford,  general manager for regulatory affairs and licensing, told the committee at a hearing on Friday."Some have already got a business that is operating at the time they get the restricted licence. "Others still have to go and build their entire IT system, for example. The amount of time they spend within that restricted period can vary," she said.Pushed by the committee - a fintech and startup fan club - Waterford assured them that at APRA: "We are actually doing an awful lot in this space to help the innovative players. We've relaxed the requirements quite a lot. "For example, standard banks need to have a good mixture of funding between retail and wholesale. "Through the GFC, it was obvious that that was something that was very necessary. That's not achievable for a start-up. "So we have allowed them a pathway of up to five years to have a much more concentrated wholesale funding base. Otherwise they would not be able to enter the market. We've relaxed a lot of requirements to try to assist in this space."