In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission. Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.