The Western Union Company - the American company, specialising on granting of services of monetary intermediary. Western Union was founded in 1851. The company is one of leaders in the market of the international remittances. Payment systems are one of basic elements of infrastructure of e-commerce. Thanks to cooperation with Western Union the Associated Press at the end of the XIX century took almost monopolistic position in the U.S. market news. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. In 2000 was launched the Web site westernunion.com, with which users from certain countries can independently transfer funds online. In the 1910-1920 years. Western Union is actively engaged in researching, innovating in the field of data transmission. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network. In 1884 Western Union has become a joint-stock company and was brought to the stock exchange. The company has entered in the first American stock index Dow Jones.