The Western Union Company - the American company, specialising on granting of services of monetary intermediary. Western Union was founded in 1851. The company is one of leaders in the market of the international remittances. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. Payment systems are one of basic elements of infrastructure of e-commerce. 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.