In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. 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. In 2007 the company made 167.7 million transactions on money transfers between individuals and 404.6 million transactions between physical and legal persons. Before transition to remittances Western Union company rendered services on sphere of cable communication. On the market was placed about 765 million of ordinary shares of the company. On the first day trading on the exchange the company's shares rose by 3.3% and the cost was $ 19.96. Western Union made so that the time in all of American civil services was the same.