America was on the verge of civil war and needed a reliable connection between the North and South. On the telegraph market of the USA at this time were operated with six large companies: American Telegraph Company, New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph, Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company, and the brainchild of Sibley & Co. - The Western Union Telegraph. In the 30's of the twentieth century, Western Union has become the world's largest telegraph company. Each money transfer is protected with control number, that allows you to track and to ensure prompt payment of money specified by you person. Most service points of Western Union work in the time convenient for customers throughout the week and throughout the year. In 1866, Sibley ordered the engineers to develop a Western Union telegraph system of stock quotes in real time. In the 80's of Nineteenth century, Western Union was repeatedly tried capture by the railroad tycoon Jay Gould. He worked with Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the first phone. 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. In 1933, by the Western Union Company were invented "singing telegrams". In 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card.