1980 - for the first time in the history of Western Union revenues from money transfers exceeded the income from the telegraph service. In the 30's of the twentieth century, Western Union has become the world's largest telegraph company. Leaving the idea of expansion into Europe, Western Union took up the expansion of services in the U.S. market. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. Number of active holders of "Golden Card" of Western Union amounted to 9.5 million people worldwide. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.