In 1860 the U.S. Congress arranged among the telegraph companies a competition to create a national line. The winner was Western Union. In 1995, First Financial Management was acquired by First Data Corp. (the deal amounted to $ 7 billion), and Western Union Financial Services became a subsidiary of First Data. Money transfer is a matter of minutes, at any distance. By 1861 Western Union telegraph lines entangled the whole America. It's time to explore Europe. 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. In October 1871 the company has implemented the world's first telegraph money order. After a century money transfers have become a major source of income for Western Union. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. 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. In October 1871 the company Western Union began to provide money transfer services, drawing on its own extensive telegraph network.