Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. Leaving the idea of expansion into Europe, Western Union took up the expansion of services in the U.S. market. 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 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. In 1933, by the Western Union Company were invented "singing telegrams". In 2000 was launched the Web site westernunion.com, with which users from certain countries can independently transfer funds online. All you need for sending money via Western Union is to go to the nearest branch of Western Union, fill out the transfer printed form, show your passport and then send money. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.