With whom is Even Hotels required to enter into a participation agreement related to merchant processing?

According to Even Hotels' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to enter into a merchant processing application and agreement with Fiserv, the SCH-approved merchant service provider. Additionally, franchisees must enter into a participation agreement with SCH (presumably referring to Six Continents Hotels, Inc., though this is not explicitly stated in the quoted text). This requirement is part of the Next-Gen Payment (NGP) program that Even Hotels uses.

The NGP program requires franchisees to use NGP or any successor payments program implemented by SCH. Upon activation of the NGP program, SCH will bill the franchisee monthly and administer support for the hardware and software. The monthly NGP fee may increase, but no more than 5% from the original quoted rate, based on increases in costs incurred by SCH to provide the service. The exact amount of the fee will be defined on the quote received prior to installation.

If a franchisee terminates the Next-Gen Payment Agreement early, they will be liable for an early termination fee. This fee is calculated as 50% of the NGP monthly fee, multiplied by the number of remaining monthly payments in the term. This fee structure ensures that Even Hotels franchisees utilize the approved payment processing systems and adhere to the brand's standards for financial transactions.