Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. By 1861 Western Union telegraph lines entangled the whole America. It's time to explore Europe. The Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services In 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card. 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. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States.