The size of the commission fee for the transfer is charged according to the Western Union tariffs and depends on the amount of money sent. 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. 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). The Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. Number of active holders of "Golden Card" of Western Union amounted to 9.5 million people worldwide.