A licence number is an identifier, not a verdict
Every debit card sits with an issuer, and most issuers appear on a public register run by the supervisor for their market. That entry carries a licence or registration number, and the number is the piece you can check for yourself rather than take on trust. ABN AMRO NL Zakelijk is listed with its Dutch supervisor, AFM, under 12020215, which ties the business account to a named authority.
Read that number as an identifier and nothing more. It says the institution is authorised in that market. It says nothing about what the card costs to hold, what a foreign purchase costs, or how quickly a claim is settled, so it belongs beside a fee comparison rather than in place of one. The debit card rankings set out the cost side, and reviews such as the ABN AMRO NL Zakelijk review cover the working details a register cannot show.
One brand, more than one register
Airwallex is the clearest case of a brand that sits on more than a single register, because it is authorised in more than a single market. Its Dutch entry is R179622 with De Nederlandsche Bank, and its Singapore entry is PS20200541 with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Alfa-Bank answers to a different kind of authority, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, under 1326.
Comparing those Airwallex entries is the practical lesson. A single licence line cannot describe a multi-market account, so any comparison that treats a brand as one regulated entity is overstating its position. Note which market the register belongs to, then read the terms for the market you plan to use and check what currency use costs against the no foreign transaction fee cards list.
Different supervisors also mean different disclosure habits. A European register record tends to follow a template, while a national register may publish a licence number and little else, as with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation entry above. Expect the same depth of information from each, and fill the gaps from the issuer's own terms.
Deposit protection is a separate question
A deposit insurer is not a regulator, and the cardholder is not always the party the insurer protects. Bank of Guam carries both a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation identifier, 20884, and an FDIC certification, FDIC cert 20884. American Express Business Cards lists FDIC cert 27471 and Axos Bank lists FDIC cert 35546, so all of them can be traced through the same insurer's records.
Keep the two questions apart when you read a card page. Supervision tells you who polices the issuer. Deposit insurance tells you what happens to eligible deposits if the issuer fails, within the insurer's stated limits and terms. Neither answer settles what a card costs you to use abroad, so weigh the register entry alongside the fee and currency lists rather than letting it stand in for them.
Regional issuers publish entries too
Smaller and regional issuers are registered just as traceably, and the same method applies. Bakai Bank lists 043 under the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic. Bank Mandiri Dili lists BPA/B/04/2003 with Banco Central de Timor-Leste, the Absa Uganda virtual multicurrency card lists 4227 with Bank of Uganda, and Bankera's entry with Bank of Lithuania is 17.
A regional register entry is a narrower check than a brand name implies. It confirms that the institution is supervised in the place it is booked, and the name printed on the card tells you which entity issued that particular card. Cross-border users should read the issuer's own terms alongside the entry, and reviews such as the Absa Seychelles review are where a regional issuer gets described in working terms.
Not every issuer is a bank
Plenty of card issuers are not deposit-taking banks, and the register reflects that in the label it uses. Baanx is listed with the Financial Conduct Authority as a cryptoasset business under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations, with 927401. Bank Zero is registered as a mutual bank with the South African Reserve Bank under MB0001, a different legal form with its own rules.
That label is the clue worth reading twice. A cryptoasset business, a mutual bank and a universal bank hold different permissions, and the card terms follow from that status. Where a brand mixes statuses across markets, work out which one the specific card belongs to before comparing it with anything else on a list.
Running the comparison yourself
Start with supervision. Note the supervisor and the licence number, and treat both as identifiers that let you find the issuer again. Alior's entry with ACPR, PSD_PI FR_ACPR!89914, is a European register record, and the same discipline applies whether the brand is a household name or a small issuer, because a number that cannot be looked up is worth little.
Then price the account. Fees and currency costs decide what a card costs per month and per purchase, and that is where rankings earn their place, including business debit cards for accounts aimed at company spend.
Finally, read how the account behaves. Reviews carry the practical detail a register cannot, such as the ACB Grenada Bank review and the ActivoBank review. A supervision check tells you who stands behind the issuer; the rankings and the reviews tell you what the account is like to use.