Forthcode is a technology company dedicated exclusively to the aviation industry. Our products Inflight Retail, Catering Management, Lounge in the Sky, and AI Agents are designed to modernize airline operations where payments, compliance, and passenger experience intersect.

Airlines face increasing pressure from:

• Rising inflight payment fraud

• Stricter global payment regulations

• Legacy payment infrastructure

• Low authorization rates in offline environments

Forthcode addresses these challenges with a patent-pending inflight payment system and method that combines:

• Advanced offline fraud detection

• Strong customer authentication

• Intelligent payment orchestration optimized for airline workflows

This enables airlines to increase approval rates, reduce chargebacks, maintain PCI and scheme compliance, and deliver a seamless passenger experience across their fleet.

Offline credit card payments remain essential for airline buy-on-board and ancillary revenue, especially on short-haul and regional routes where inflight connectivity is limited or unavailable.

Most traditional payment providers focus on always-connected environments. As a result, their SDKs and terminals are poorly suited for offline inflight payments. Airlines often need significant custom development to support:

• Secure offline authorization

• Local card data storage

• PCI-compliant risk controls

• Deferred transaction processing

Post-flight processing adds further complexity. Airlines must securely transmit stored transactions, reconcile data across multiple flights, manage failed authorizations, and ensure accurate settlement capabilities rarely included in standard payment solutions.

Currency management is one of the most overlooked challenges in inflight POS systems. Aircraft routinely cross borders, requiring support for:

• Multi-currency pricing

• Exchange rate application

• Dynamic currency conversion

• Card-scheme compliance

All of this must function without real-time FX data. Ensuring accuracy and compliance in an offline environment requires additional logic and configuration that most off-the-shelf POS solutions do not provide.

Airlines operate hundreds or thousands of inflight payment terminals across their fleets. Without continuous connectivity, managing these devices becomes a major operational challenge.

• Airlines need real-time visibility into:

• Which terminal is on which aircraft

• Device usage and assignment

• Software and menu versions

• FX configuration and sync status

Preventing transaction loss, data corruption, and desynchronization is critical to protecting inflight revenue and maintaining passenger trust.

Many airlines struggle with local acquiring banks that do not permit offline authorization. In these situations, there is no fully compliant workaround.

Some providers route transactions through foreign acquirers or operate as Merchant of Record (MoR). While this can enable offline acceptance, it introduces serious risks, including:

• Cross-border tax and VAT exposure

• Incorrect tax treatment

• Additional FX liabilities

• Complex financial reporting

These models are not scalable or compliant long-term. The only sustainable approach is for airlines to establish local acquiring relationships that explicitly support offline inflight payments.

Fraud risk is a key concern with offline airline payments, but it can be significantly reduced with the right inflight-specific controls.

Forthcode’s offline fraud detection system, when correctly implemented, can eliminate over 80% of fraudulent transactions before settlement. Key strategies include:

• Dynamic BIN and card-range risk rules

• Intelligent offline floor limits

• Velocity and behavior-based controls

• Pre-flight synchronization of hotlists and fraud parameters

These measures allow inflight terminals to make informed decisions even without connectivity, dramatically reducing declined payments and revenue loss.

Several of these methods are protected under Forthcode’s patent.

Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay dominate ground-based transactions, but enabling them inflight remains challenging.

Most mobile wallets rely on tokenized credentials that require periodic internet access. In offline inflight environments, passengers’ devices cannot obtain fresh cryptographic tokens, limiting acceptance.

Some wallets support Device PAN-based offline transactions, provided the inflight POS supports:

• NFC

• EMV contactless kernels

• Offline data authentication

However, issuer support varies, and acceptance rates are inconsistent. While mobile wallet inflight payments are possible in limited scenarios, widespread adoption will depend on improved connectivity and issuer policies.

Over the next three to five years, airline payment systems will move toward real-time, connected inflight payments, but progress will be uneven.

Differences in aircraft hardware, satellite coverage, and regulatory environments mean offline and hybrid payment models will remain critical.

Forthcode is preparing airlines for this transition by:

• Continuously enhancing offline payment reliability and fraud protection

• Developing fully connected, real-time inflight payment modules

• Supporting hybrid payment architectures across mixed fleets

Forthcode delivers aviation-grade inflight payment solutions designed for real-world airline operations not generic retail environments.

Our technology helps airlines:

• Increase inflight payment approval rates

• Reduce fraud and chargebacks

• Maintain global regulatory compliance

• Maximize onboard revenue

• Future-proof their payment infrastructure