1998 - the number of points of money transfers worldwide reached 50,000. The network of money transfers of Western Union is the world's largest. In order to increase competitiveness and market expansion of its services, Western Union launched a program of loyalty Western Union Gold Card for customers, who has repeatedly made money transfers via Western Union. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. Separation of the companies had two objectives: first, to give Western Union the opportunity to develop more intensively, and secondly, to help First Data to return to its original activity (in 1992 the company separated from the payment system of American Express as an independent financial services company). In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. The Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission.