In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In 1995, First Financial Management was acquired by First Data Corp. (the deal amounted to $ 7 billion), and Western Union Financial Services became a subsidiary of First Data. Before transition to remittances Western Union company rendered services on sphere of cable communication. In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network.