Two brothers from Montana’s Hi-Line area have taken a Whitefish kitchen-table startup to a tip-top company in Montana.

Travis and Chase Taylor operate Glacier Payments, a credit-card payment processing company based in Whitefish. Travis, the founder and chief executive officer, and Chase, chief operating officer, have been on a roll since the company opened in 2009.

Inc.com, an online magazine that monitors financial growth across the United States, ranked Glacier Payments in September as the No. 1 fastest-growing company in Montana for a second consecutive year.

In 2013, Glacier Payments clocked growth at 1,374 percent, earning it the top 2014 spot. The company continued growing in 2014, reporting a 514 percent increase in business..

The brothers have their sights set on a global market.

“It’s a real honor to be here, but there’s room for improvement,” Travis said. “Our eyes are set on bigger and broader targets.”

Glacier Payments works with 180 different currencies and operates on every continent except Antarctica.

Travis said it’s a good time to be in the credit-card payment market. The industry powered through the 2008 economic crash, he said, when people would spend money despite disastrous economic conditions.

“It’s very interesting that people spend money, even when they shouldn’t,” Travis said. “So when the economy is bad, we’re still growing. When it’s good, we’re doing great.”

As Glacier Payments looks back at what components propelled the company this far, the Taylors say the success is due to the seven employees who make up the company.

“Our goal was to have about 12 employees, but we’ve got an amazing team of seven people that does the work of 12,” Chase said. “We’ve just surrounded ourselves with talent.”

Brad Morgan, major account manager for Glacier Payments, said the company has excelled by hiring forward-thinking people who can create innovative strategies.

“We’re trying to not just be another payment company. We’re looking for businesses that help get us to that growth point,” Morgan said. “I think we’ve accomplished that so far.”

Glacier Payments picks up contracts from around the world through referral agencies and banks throughout the U.S. As Glacier Payments picks up more businesses each year that are using its payment processing hardware and software, Chase said new technology is part of what inspires each employee at their office.

“We have to be agile and adaptive in this market,” Chase said.

It’s been a busy few months for Glacier Payments and other U.S. credit card payment companies who have been preparing for the incoming chip-card technology. October marks the transition to the use of chip cards, which creates an extra layer of security for account information at the point of sale. Glacier Payments, like several other companies, jumped ahead of the transition date to pick up new payment machines and software that complements the new technology.

The Taylors were raised on a cattle ranch on the Hi-Line near Glasgow. Travis, 36, and Chase, 28, picked up their business savvy from their parents, they said, who put them to work at a young age while still encouraging play during their formative years on the farm.

“It was instilled in us to work hard and play hard at a young age,” Travis said. “All of our immediate family members were entrepreneurs, with the ranch and the farm as a business.”

Travis got into the credit card payment industry after moving to Denver in his early 20s. He eventually moved back to Whitefish in order to raise a family. Chase got the call to join Travis, who had a plan for his next venture.

“We just sat down and took it one step at a time,” Chase said. “I think being raised with the same morals and ethics plays a huge part.”

The company launched in 2009 and the Taylors were the only two employees. It would have been difficult to build a payment company if they had focused entirely on local business, Travis said, so they reached for the forefront of technology to make a viable, early impression to businesses in metropolitan areas.

As Glacier Payments moves forward, the Taylors look to stay ahead of the technological curve and remain a formidable name in the global market.

Six other Montana companies made the Inc.com 5,000 list this year. Three are from Bozeman; Professional Therapy Associates of Kalispell was ranked No. 4334.