Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. Most service points of Western Union work in the time convenient for customers throughout the week and throughout the year. 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). In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone.