Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. 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. 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 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. Western Union incomes for 2007 have made $4,9 billion US dollars, and the quantity of transactions has made 572 million. 1970 - a new service called Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders.