Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. 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. Money transfer is a matter of minutes, at any distance. You do not need to open a bank account, so you can send or receive money in any of the 170 000 service points of Western Union around the world. Thanks to cooperation with Western Union the Associated Press at the end of the XIX century took almost monopolistic position in the U.S. market news. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone.