Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. In February 2009 the company entered into an agreement with Fexco to acquire 100% of its shares for $ 159.9 million. America was on the verge of civil war and needed a reliable connection between the North and South. On the telegraph market of the USA at this time were operated with six large companies: American Telegraph Company, New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph, Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company, and the brainchild of Sibley & Co. - The Western Union Telegraph. 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. Western Union has several divisions, with products such as person-to-person money transfer, money orders, business payments and commercial services. Another invention of Western Union - time synchronization. Each money transfer is protected with control number, that allows you to track and to ensure prompt payment of money specified by you person. 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). Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.