In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In October 1871 the company has implemented the world's first telegraph money order. After a century money transfers have become a major source of income for Western Union. Western Union incomes for 2007 have made $4,9 billion US dollars, and the quantity of transactions has made 572 million. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network.