In the Western Union in the 30s of the 20th century worked 14 thousand couriers delivering telegrams. Western Union offers one of the easiest ways for families and friends to send money and stay connected almost anywhere in the world. Most service points of Western Union work in the time convenient for customers throughout the week and throughout the year. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. In 1864, fearing the laying of long underwater lines, Western Union offered to carry out laying of telegraph lines to Europe through the Russian Alaska under the narrow Bering Strait and then to Siberia with branching in the major cities of Europe. One of the common kinds of money transfer is a transfer via the international system of Western Union. In 1914 Western Union engineers invented the first payment card - a prototype of the modern credit card. The Western Union Company uses the most up to date technologies and its unique worldwide computer network that allows to carry out quick money transfers payments in more than 190 countries around the world.