In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. You do not need to open a bank account, so you can send or receive money in any of the 170 000 service points of Western Union around the world. 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. The first offices of company were located in the Reynolds Arcade building in Rochester, New York. The sign above the main entrance to the building - In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.