In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In 1935, Western Union has put into operation first intercity fax communication. One of the common kinds of money transfer is a transfer via the international system of Western Union. 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. Number of active holders of "Golden Card" of Western Union amounted to 9.5 million people worldwide.