WesternUnion.com provides a way to transfer money to people around the world

Overview

Western Union is an American company founded in 1851 providing financial services primarily to America. Western Union is now a high ranking Fortune 500 company, employing agents in over 270,000 locations in over 200 countries and, as of 2005, bringing in over $3 billion USD annually.

Western Union offers such services as money orders, person to person money transfers, and other commercial services. Until telegrams were discontinued in July of 2006, Western Union was also the best known and most popular telegram service in the United States.

Origins

Despite now being based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Western Union was originally founded in 1851, under the name The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. Five years later, in 1856, the company underwent a name change to Western Union Telegraph Company in response to the unification of eastern and western telegraph lines. Western Union established its superiority in 1861 by laying the first transcontinental telegraph line. For the remainder of the 1800s, Western Union continued to set many precedents and grow to become quite a successful company. They created the first stock ticker, launched the world's first universal time keeping service, and in 1884 they became one of the original 11 stocks to be placed on the first Dow Jones National Average. Also during this time period, Western Union launched the Western Union Money Transfer service, which became the company's primary focus.

The wild success of Western Union did not stop with the 1800s, however. Throughout the early 1900s they would introduce to the nation the first consumer charge card, the first teletypewriter, the first singing telegram, the first inter-city facsimile service, the first commercial inter-city microwave system, telex (a consumer to consumer teleprinter service), a transcontinental microwave radio beam system, and in 1970, the first next day delivery mail service.

In 1974 Western Union launched Westar I. Westar I would revolutionize US communications just as much as their previous innovations had by becoming the first commercial communications satellite in the US. Over the next ten years they would launch 4 more satellites, becoming the first company with 5 satellites in orbit.

Western Union then began to slip into the place they still maintain today by focusing primarily on financial services. They introduced a system later in the 90s that allowed funds sent from Mexico to the US available in mere minutes. They completed their transition into their modern role by opening their North American headquarters in Englewood, Colorado, the headquarters that they still occupy today.

Modern Day

Today, Western Union has expanded to employ agents in over 270,000 locations, spanning 200 countries across the globe.

They now focus primarily on financial services, mainly local and international money transfers.

Languages

English

Address

PO Box 6992
Greenwood Village, CO 80155-6992

Contact

Telephone: +1-720-332-1000
Investor Relations: 866-405-5012
Customer Service in English: 1-800-325-6000
Servicio de Cliente en Español: 1-800-325-4045
Find an Agent location: 1-800-325-6000
Quick Collect® Customer Service: 1-800-238-5772
Western Union® Money OrderSM: 1-800-999-9660
Western Union Gold Card: 1-888-628-8862
Western Union Gold Card Rewards Program: 1-877-984-0469
Report a lost or stolen Prepaid MasterCard: 1-866-737-4949
Change your Prepaid MasterCard PIN: 1-866-737-4949

Additional Information

Related Domains

External Links



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