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 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. Number of active holders of "Golden Card" of Western Union amounted to 9.5 million people worldwide. Sibley, the founder of Western Union, did not build a new telegraph lines, and persuaded the other players to join. American Telegraph Company, however, still had to buy it. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers. Gold Card Loyalty Program Western Union Western Union made so that the time in all of American civil services was the same.