As a result of 2011, net income of Western Union has increased by 28% to $ 1.165 billion, the company reported. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. In 1877, starting from September, New York City residents began to have the opportunity to check the time on clock with the "time ball", located on the roof of constructed in the same year a new corporate headquarters - Western Union Building. By 1861 Western Union telegraph lines entangled the whole America. It's time to explore Europe. Payment systems are one of basic elements of infrastructure of e-commerce. One of the common kinds of money transfer is a transfer via the international system of Western Union. You do not need to open a bank account, so you can send or receive money in any of the 170 000 service points of Western Union around the world. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. In 1856, in 7 years after the foundation of New York State Printing Telegraph Company, the company changed its name to Western Union Telegraph Company.