New division will target ATM deployment, merchant payment processing, point-of-sale services, and a venue-integrated payment solution for adult entertainers

Tradewinds Universal (OTC: TRWD), a holding company building an experiential hospitality platform, today announced the establishment of its Financial Services Division.

The division is being developed to generate recurring, transaction-based revenue from services used every day across adult entertainment venues, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and related hospitality businesses.

The Financial Services Division will initially focus on:

• ATM deployment, management, and transaction services
• Merchant payment processing and point-of-sale services
• A professional, venue-integrated payment solution for adult entertainers and customers

The division is intended to complement TRWD's venue acquisition strategy, Club Management Group, technology initiatives, and strategic alignment with Peppermint Hippo and affiliated brands.

Capturing Revenue Already Moving Through the Industry

Adult entertainment and nightlife venues process significant cash and electronic payment volume every night. Customers withdraw cash, purchase food and beverages, reserve VIP tables, pay admission charges, and complete other transactions throughout the guest experience.

TRWD intends to participate in that activity through ATM surcharges, interchange and processing arrangements, merchant-processing residuals, equipment programs, software services, and transaction-based fees. Unlike revenue dependent on opening another venue, these services can scale with both the number of participating locations and the transaction volume generated inside each location.

"ATM withdrawals, card transactions, and digital payments are already happening throughout this industry every night," said Andrew Read, CEO of Tradewinds Universal. "Our opportunity is to bring those transactions into a professional platform that improves the customer experience while creating recurring revenue for TRWD."

ATM Deployment Across Entertainment and Hospitality Venues

Cash remains an important part of the adult nightlife and hospitality economy. TRWD plans to pursue ATM deployment and management opportunities across Peppermint Hippo and affiliated locations, future acquired venues, Club Management Group clients, and independently owned hospitality businesses.

ATM revenue is generated each time a customer accepts a disclosed surcharge to complete a withdrawal. In adult entertainment venues, where immediate access to cash is an important part of the customer experience, ATM charges can be substantially higher than those commonly found in traditional retail locations. On certain transactions, particularly smaller withdrawals, the ATM surcharge can represent up to approximately 25% of the amount withdrawn.

TRWD may participate in this revenue through ATM ownership, placement, management, processing relationships, interchange revenue, or negotiated revenue-sharing agreements with participating venues.

The global payment processing solutions market is projected to reach approximately $86.1 billion in 2026, while the global ATM market is estimated at approximately $25.7 billion in 2026. These adjacent markets demonstrate the scale of the transaction infrastructure supporting TRWD's specialized strategy. NCR Atleos Corporation, traded on the NYSE, and Euronet Worldwide, Inc., traded on Nasdaq, demonstrate the scale that can be achieved through ATM networks, transaction processing, and managed services.

TRWD intends to apply a more specialized model focused on entertainment and hospitality locations where demand for convenient access to cash remains significant.

Merchant Processing and Point-of-Sale Services

The Financial Services Division also intends to offer merchant-processing and point-of-sale services to adult entertainment venues, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other hospitality operators.

Payment-service providers commonly earn a percentage of payment volume, fixed per-transaction charges, and recurring fees for equipment, software, account services, and support. Restaurant and hospitality payment-processing costs frequently range from approximately 1.5% to 3.5% of transaction value, depending on card type, processing volume, risk profile, and services provided.

Adult entertainment businesses are often classified as higher-risk merchants, resulting in higher processing costs, stricter underwriting, reserve requirements, account restrictions, and fewer available providers. TRWD intends to use its industry knowledge and relationships to connect participating businesses with qualified acquiring banks, payment processors, point-of-sale providers, and related technology partners.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. and Toast, Inc., both traded on the NYSE, demonstrate how payment volume, point-of-sale technology, software, and recurring transaction fees can be combined into scalable business models.

TRWD believes it can apply a similar transaction-driven approach to a specialized hospitality market where it already has industry access and potential participating locations.

Developing a Professional Payment Solution for Adult Entertainers

A major initiative of the Financial Services Division will be the development of a professional payment method that allows adult entertainers to accept authorized customer payments through a secure, transparent, and venue-integrated system.

Customers and entertainers currently rely heavily on cash and credit-card transactions. The growth of consumer peer-to-peer payment applications has created circumvention issues, with some entertainers attempting to accept electronic payments directly from customers outside the venue's approved systems. These applications were not specifically designed for transactions inside adult entertainment venues, and their rules may restrict certain commercial transactions or require approved business accounts and merchant relationships.

When payments occur outside a venue's approved systems, the club can lose transaction visibility, financial controls, and potential participation in revenue generated inside its own location.

TRWD's proposed solution is intended to:

• Provide customers with a professional digital payment option
• Give entertainers a safer and more reliable alternative to cash and informal payment applications
• Integrate payments with venue operations and financial controls
• Protect customer and entertainer privacy
• Improve transaction visibility and recordkeeping
• Create additional transaction-based revenue for participating venues and TRWD

"The customer wants convenience, the entertainer wants confidence that the payment will be received, and the venue needs a professional system that protects everyone involved," said Alan Chang, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Peppermint Hippo and a director of TRWD. "This is a real operational need throughout the industry. Solving it correctly can improve the guest experience, reduce payment friction, and create an important new revenue stream."

Building a Scalable Financial Services Platform

TRWD has retained a specialized payments-technology developer to begin building the integration, reporting, and venue-onboarding infrastructure for the Financial Services Division. The Company intends to combine this technology with its relationships across adult entertainment, nightlife, bar, and restaurant operations to deploy ATM, merchant-processing, point-of-sale, and related transaction services through qualified third-party providers.

The opportunity is supported by operating data provided by TRWD's strategic partner, Peppermint Hippo, and its affiliated brands. Using a conservative benchmark of approximately $100,000 in annual ATM surcharge sales per established venue, a network of only 20 participating locations could represent approximately $2 million in annual ATM surcharge volume.

TRWD also intends to offer its services to independently owned clubs and hospitality businesses outside its affiliated network. When combined with merchant-processing residuals, point-of-sale services, equipment programs, entertainer payments, and other transaction-based revenue, management believes the Company's industry relationships could support rapid adoption and position the Financial Services Division to pursue eight-figure annual revenue potential as the platform expands.

"The value of this division grows with every location and every transaction," Read added. "We are beginning with an industry network we already understand, but the opportunity extends well beyond our affiliated venues. The goal is to build a financial-services platform that can serve operators throughout the entertainment and hospitality industries."

Clarification of TRWD's Role

TRWD's Financial Services Division is being established as a non-bank services platform. The Company does not intend to operate as a bank, depository institution, lender, or independent money transmitter.

TRWD intends to provide, manage, integrate, and market ATM, merchant-processing, point-of-sale, and related transaction services through relationships with qualified acquiring banks, payment processors, ATM networks, technology providers, and other appropriately authorized third parties.

Those providers would remain responsible for applicable merchant underwriting, transaction authorization, processing, clearing, settlement, and movement of funds. TRWD's anticipated role will center on commercial relationships, technology integration, program management, venue implementation, customer support, and participation in transaction-based fees and revenue-sharing arrangements.

About Peppermint Hippo

Founded in 2018 by Alan Chang, Peppermint Hippo has grown from Toledo, Ohio into the fastest-expanding adult nightlife brand in the country. Its Las Vegas flagship opened in April 2022 as the only gentlemen's club on the Las Vegas Strip. The brand now operates 12-plus clubs nationwide, including affiliated Las Tóxicas locations, delivering a "Mini-Vegas" experience through upscale design, professional entertainment, and elevated hospitality standards. Visit ThePeppermintHippo.com.

About Tradewinds Universal

Tradewinds Universal (OTCID: TRWD) is a fully reporting, publicly traded holding company acquiring and scaling adult hospitality businesses. The Company is consolidating a fragmented industry under a public structure, in strategic alignment with Peppermint Hippo and affiliated brands. Its long-term goal is to build a national, multi-brand platform comprising 100 or more venues.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding TRWD's operational plans, acquisition timing, revenue expectations, growth prospects, expansion targets, and anticipated strategic developments. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the Company's ability to consummate acquisitions, obtain necessary licensing and regulatory approvals, integrate acquired businesses, access capital on favorable terms, achieve projected revenue targets, and navigate general economic and market conditions. Revenue figures attributed to Peppermint Hippo and affiliated brands reflect the performance of entities that are not yet wholly owned subsidiaries of TRWD; actual revenue contribution to TRWD's consolidated financial statements will depend on the timing and completion of definitive acquisition agreements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Tradewinds Universal disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Data Sources and References

• Peppermint Hippo and affiliated brands
• Fortune Business Insights — Payment Processing Solutions Market Size and Industry Overview
• Mordor Intelligence — ATM Market Size and Share Analysis
• NerdWallet — Credit Card Processing Fees: What Small Businesses Should Know
• NCR Atleos Corporation — Company Information
• Euronet Worldwide, Inc. — Investor Relations

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TRWD is building a new recurring-revenue adult payment processing, POS services and venue-integrated technology—with multimillion-dollar potential.