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 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. 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 2007 the company made 167.7 million transactions on money transfers between individuals and 404.6 million transactions between physical and legal persons. In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission.