In the competitive and often turbulent world of payment processing, Brendon Speas saw a significant void. After spending 14 years within the vast operations of U.S. Bank—working in merchant services market management, commercial lending, and business banking—Speas launched 5280 Payments in January 2020. Based in Lakewood, the company’s mission is to provide efficient, reliable payment solutions coupled with strong, lasting professional partnerships, primarily serving the Front Range business community.
Merchant payment processors like 5280 Payments process a customer’s payment information (such as a credit or debit card) through secure, high-speed networks to verify funds availability and complete transaction approval. The industry is dominated by big players like Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify, and Adyen. The sheer size of this competition is daunting: published reports, including those produced by Mordor Intelligence and Fortune Business Insights, consistently show that the top three e-commerce gateway providers alone account for over 75% of global online payment volume. This concentration highlights the challenge for smaller firms.
The founding of 5280 Payments was motivated by a clear market demand. “I noticed significant dissatisfaction among businesses with their merchant services providers,” Speas said. His goal was to become his clients’ single point of contact for all processing needs, from maintaining annual PCI compliance to troubleshooting issues–and to do so with a personal touch the large industry processors do not offer.
However, navigating an oversaturated market dominated by big name providers remains a challenge, Speas said, with many merchant companies creating a negative perception of the merchant services industry.
To combat this, 5280 Payments differentiates itself by acting as what Speas describes as an advocate intermediary for the business owner. While the company offers solutions from major processors like Elavon, First Data Fiserv, and TSYS, it provides more specialized, personalized account management and operates without the typical overhead and costs associated with big banks.
“We switched over to them because as a chamber of commerce, we try to support member businesses as much as we can,” said Erin Acheson, Vice President of the West Metro Chamber of Commerce, which became a 5280 Payments client this past year. “Brendon was able to arrange a great rate that saved us some money over the year—important for a nonprofit!—and walked us through the process. Knowing that we have someone local who can help us with issues or questions is a plus!”
Although Speas remains the sole manager of 5280 Payments, the company leverages a massive support infrastructure through its designated partnership with **Payroc**. Payroc, which processes over $115 billion in annual transaction volume, provides 24/7 back-office support with expertise in customer service, software integration, PCI compliance, and risk mitigation. Utilizing these resources, 5280 Payments serves a wide range of industries across Colorado and some out-of-state clients, maintaining a strong focus on **restaurant, retail, and service industry businesses** that utilize QuickBooks Online integration or other payment software.
Looking ahead, Speas has plans for measured expansion, specifically investigating different restaurant POS systems to expand future product offerings.
