In 2005, before most people had even heard of the word ‘fintech’, Maxcode was already building the technology that would define it. From the first innovations in digital payments, to today’s tokenized, regulated and decentralized finance, Maxcode has been at the forefront of Europe’s financial transformation for the past two decades, always driven by the same guiding principle: next level tech.
2005 — The Launch Of iDEAL: The Birth Of Digital Trust
When iDEAL revolutionized online payments in the Netherlands, Maxcode’s founders were among the very first to help banks and payment providers implement and scale the new protocol.
“We didn’t just build payment integrations, we built trust,” recalls Hans Vermeijs, co-founder of Maxcode. “Banks were struggling to visualize what iDEAL could become, so we built a test tool that simulated transactions through APIs. It was the first product Maxcode ever created, revolutionary at the time.”
That simulation platform, which showed banks exactly how messages and data would flow between systems, became a cornerstone of iDEAL’s success. It helped turn a small collaborative idea into a nationwide standard for secure online payments, and was the spark that gave birth to Maxcode.
2006 — Smartpix And The Roots Of Digital Billing
Just one year later, Maxcode launched Smartpix, an innovation that allowed images in emails to be dynamically updated even after sending. This technology evolved into AcceptEmail (later re-named to AcceptEasy and now Serrala), a Dutch success story that enabled real-time bill payment and visual payment confirmation directly in a person’s inbox – a precursor to today’s embedded payment links and digital invoices.
2008 — Reliability as a Service
When Dutch consumers began complaining about online banking outages, Maxcode helped restore confidence in digital payments by developing a monitoring platform for Currence, the owner of iDEAL. That platform objectively measured banks’ system availability and shared transparent uptime data with the public, transforming negative sentiment into operational trust.
“From the very beginning, Maxcode played a crucial role in developing and maintaining custom applications that enable seamless collaboration within our ecosystem. These solutions have been essential for testing, incident management and effective communication across the iDEAL scheme, ensuring reliability and trust for millions of users,” says Roland Thijsen, product manager at Currence. “Maxcode has been more than just a technology provider for Currence – they’ve been a strategic partner in shaping the success of iDEAL.”
2008 was also the year The Paypers was founded — a milestone in digital payments media. Maxcode played a supporting role in those early days, helping build a technological foundation for The Paypers at a time when the European payments landscape was rapidly professionalizing.
“Maxcode was instrumental in helping me start The Paypers and has been a trusted technology partner throughout every stage of our growth,” comments Melisande Mual, founder of The Paypers.”
2010 — eHerkenning: Identity For The Public Sector
As the Dutch government introduced eHerkenning, a federated digital identity system for businesses accessing public services, Maxcode built the testing infrastructure that allowed service providers to verify their data connections safely. This early experience with secure identity exchange would later form the foundation for Maxcode’s work on digital identity and consent frameworks under PSD2 and eIDAS.
“We’ve always believed in making complex infrastructures visible and verifiable,” says Hans. “It’s the only way to build real reliability.”
2012 — From e-invoicing To FinBox And SimplerInvoicing
With online banking becoming mainstream, Maxcode developed FinBox, a shared ‘financial inbox’ that allowed citizens to receive bills and financial communication directly through their banks – a forerunner of today’s e-invoicing standards. FinBox evolved into SimplerInvoicing, a multi-bank and ERP network that enabled seamless electronic invoicing across Europe, long before it became the norm.
2013 — MyBank: A European Step Toward Open Banking
Building on the iDEAL model, Maxcode contributed to MyBank, a pan-European initiative launched by EBA CLEARING. Operating much like iDEAL, it allowed consumers across Europe to make secure payments directly from their bank accounts. For businesses, MyBank offered automatic reconciliation – a major leap toward what would later become known as Open Banking.
2014 — e-Mandates And SEPA Integration
As SEPA became the standard for euro-zone payments, Maxcode developed e-Mandate technology, enabling customers to give digital consent for recurring payments. This was a milestone in the shift toward digital authorization. It was also an early example of digital consent, a concept that would later underpin both PSD2 and GDPR compliance.
2015 — Connect And The Rise Of Real-time Networks
Amidst the explosion of point-of-sale innovation, Maxcode created Connect, a platform for managing communication between multiple payment parties – from banks to network operators like Dutch telecom provider KPN. It streamlined real-time data exchange, and it remains in use today, proving the long-term scalability of Maxcode’s architecture.
2015 also saw the announcement of PSD2, the regulation that would open up Europe’s financial ecosystem. Maxcode was ready. The company helped PSPs and banks open up APIs securely, paving the way for account-to-account (A2A) payments and the first generation of open banking solutions.
“Regulation was never a barrier for us; it was an opportunity to innovate,” says Douwe Lycklama, co-founder of Maxcode.
“We were there when open banking moved from concept to code,” adds Chiel Liezenberg, co-founder of Maxcode. “Our developers were writing APIs before most people even knew what that meant.”
2016 — iDIN: When Banking Became Identity
When Dutch banks launched iDIN to let users verify their identity online through their bank, Maxcode built the first SDKs, test tools, integrated with existing tools, and demo webshops that made it real. That’s how trust in iDIN began. The tools not only accelerated nationwide adoption, but also nurtured Maxcode’s later interest in eIDAS and digital identity wallets.
2018 — OK App: Connecting Merchants And Customers
Maxcode helped develop the OK app for launch in the Netherlands. The platform makes it easy for merchants and brands to connect with their customers by promoting discount campaigns and enabling seamless in-app payments.
As part of that platform, Maxcode built the merchant portal, allowing merchants to view transactions, manage users, and perform payouts and refunds – all integrated with external systems such as Stripe, Adyen, and later Intersolve. Maxcode also developed the first SDKs, test tools and demo environments that made OK’s vision operational.
2017-2019 — GDPR And The Foundations Of Digital Trust
When GDPR started reshaping the European data landscape, Maxcode was already deep into consent management and data-sharing architecture, with proven experience of building systems that turned compliance into competitive advantage.
This period also marked the acceleration of open banking across Europe, supported by Maxcode’s active contribution to safe API frameworks and interoperability testing.
2018 — Konsentus: Trust Infrastructure For Open Banking
Maxcode partnered with Konsentus, a UK-based fintech founded to manage trust in open banking ecosystems. Together, they developed Konsentus Verify, a central library of open banking licenses and certificates. This allows banks to instantly validate third-party providers accessing customer data, representing an essential safeguard in the PSD2 era.
2019-2021 — Blockchain, DeFi And Digital Assets
With the arrival of Libra (later Diem) and the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), Maxcode began exploring distributed ledger technologies and tokenization – not for speculation, but to understand how programmable money could power regulated finance. From BNPL platforms to smart contract pilots, Maxcode’s engineers continued their mission to connect innovation with compliance.
“We saw DeFi as the next logical step in digital trust,” says Douwe. “It’s not about hype. It’s about transparency, accountability, and real-world use.”
2022-2025 — The Era Of Open Finance
As Europe introduced MiCA, DORA, and subsequently FiDA, the regulatory focus shifted from payments only to the entire financial data ecosystem. But for Maxcode, this next phase felt familiar: transforming complex rules into working code.
“We’ve always been one step ahead,” comments Douwe. “FiDA, PSD3 and Open Finance don’t scare us; they excite us.”
Today, Maxcode continues to build the APIs, consent frameworks and digital identity components that make open finance secure, interoperable and futureproof.
Always Next Level
Two decades on, Maxcode still remains dedicated to trusted innovation. From iDEAL to DeFi and from Smartpix to open finance, every line of code has carried the same ambition: to build technology that empowers trust.
“What makes Maxcode stand out is their deep technological expertise combined with a genuine understanding of our business needs. This unique combination has allowed us to deliver complex projects with confidence and speed. As we embark on our most ambitious journey yet – the migration from iDEAL to Wero – we hope to continue this collaboration with Maxcode, leveraging their experience and commitment to help us achieve a smooth and future-ready transition,” states Currence’s Roland Thijssen.
“Next level tech isn’t just our tagline,” concludes Chiel. “It’s our mindset. Always has been, always will be.”
