1998 - the number of points of money transfers worldwide reached 50,000. The network of money transfers of Western Union is the world's largest. Western Union has several divisions, with products such as person-to-person money transfer, money orders, business payments and commercial services. 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). Money transfer is a matter of minutes, at any distance. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. Sibley, the founder of Western Union, did not build a new telegraph lines, and persuaded the other players to join. American Telegraph Company, however, still had to buy it.