The presence of Western Union Gold Card at the client greatly simplifies the process of further processing of money transfers of and reduces the operation time for the sending of money, as the "Gold Card" is a carrier of the personal information about the client. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. Payment systems are one of basic elements of infrastructure of e-commerce. 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. In 1849, Selden and Sibley, the founders of the future Western Union, created the New York State Printing Telegraph Company. 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.