Western Union offers one of the easiest ways for families and friends to send money and stay connected almost anywhere in the world. By 1861 Western Union telegraph lines entangled the whole America. It's time to explore Europe. 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 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card. Thanks to cooperation with Western Union the Associated Press at the end of the XIX century took almost monopolistic position in the U.S. market news.