1998 - the number of points of money transfers worldwide reached 50,000. The network of money transfers of Western Union is the world's largest. 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 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. In 1849, Selden and Sibley, the founders of the future Western Union, created the New York State Printing Telegraph Company.