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. In 1988, the company undertook a massive reorganization in response to rapidly changing business conditions. In particular, this need has arisen due to many technological changes that have taken place at that time. Company name was changed from Western Union Telegraph Co. to Western Union Corp. In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. July 3, 1884 the company's shares were included in the calculation base for the newly created stock index Dow Jones Transportation Average. In 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card.