In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. Western Union incomes for 2007 have made $4,9 billion US dollars, and the quantity of transactions has made 572 million. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.