[4] It dominated the American telegraphy industry from the 1860s to the 1980s,[5] pioneering technology such as telex and developing a range of telegraph-related services, including wire money transfer, in addition to its core business of transmitting and delivering telegram messages.

[12] In 1857, Western Union participated in the 'Treaty of Six Nations', an attempt by six of the largest telegraph firms to create a system of regional telegraphy monopolies with a shared network of main lines.

[9] The firm additionally formed the Russian–American Telegraph Company in an attempt to link America to Europe, via Alaska, into Siberia, to Moscow – a project abandoned in 1867 following the successful laying of a transatlantic cable in 1866.

Western Union instead attempted to launch a rival telephony system before settling a patent lawsuit with Bell and leaving the telephone business completely in 1879.

[23] Western Union acquired its only major competitor in the American telegraphy sector Postal Telegraph, Inc. in 1945, effectively giving the company monopoly power over the industry.

[5] After 1945 the telegraphy industry began to experience a decline as the use of telephones increased, especially in the case of long-distance calls, with total telegraph messages almost halving from 1945 to 1960.

[27] In honor of Valentine's Day 1959, Western Union introduced the Candygram, a box of chocolates accompanying a telegram that was featured in a commercial with the famously rotund radio announcer Don Wilson.

The Westar satellites' transponders were also leased by other companies for relaying video, voice, data, and facsimile (fax) transmissions.

[34] The restructuring was completed in 1987 when investor Bennett S. LeBow acquired control of Western Union through an outside of chapter 11 process that was a complex leveraged recapitalization.

[34] The transaction was backed by a total of $900 million in high-yield bonds and preferred stock underwritten by Michael Milken's group at Drexel Burnham Lambert as part of an exchange offer.

LeBow installed Robert J. Amman as president and CEO who led a complete strategic, operational and balance sheet restructuring of the company over the next six years.

In the three-year period through 1990 Amman was supported by Robert A. Schriesheim, also installed by LeBow, as a special advisor who oversaw the divestiture of the four non-strategic telecommunications assets for about $280 million.

[42] In January 2011, Western Union acquired Angelo Costa, a group active in money transfer and services to immigrants.

[citation needed] In July 2011, Western Union acquired Travelex's Global Business Payments division for £606 million.

[44] In May 2015, rumors emerged over a proposed merger of Western Union and competitor MoneyGram, at a time when both companies’ revenue were declining.

[49] In November 2020, Western Union acquired a 15% stake in the digital payments unit of Saudi Telecom Company for $200 million.

Cash can be collected in person at any other Western Union agent location worldwide by providing the 10-digit MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) and identification.

The proliferation of mobile phones in developed and developing economies provides a widely accessible consumer device capable of delivering mobile financial services ranging from text notifications associated with Western Union cash delivery services to phone-based remittance options.

The company launched the Western Union Connect service in October 2015, following partnership agreements with major instant messaging apps WeChat and Viber.

[57][58] During the 2003–04 season, Western Union served as the title sponsor for the Premier Division Football League in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

[60] The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association announced a three-year deal making Western Union the team's jersey sponsor, beginning with the 2017–18 NBA Season.

[66] AUTODIN, originally named "ComLogNet", was a reliable service that operated at 99.99% availability, using mechanical punched card readers and tab machines to send and receive data over leased lines.

[72] Western Union has been required to maintain records of payout locations of the individuals who may be laundering the money, though this information may be obtained only through the use of a subpoena.

[76] The Central Bank of Ireland reprimanded and fined Western Union €1.75 million in May 2015 because of failures in anti money laundering practices which could have left the firm's payment services open to being used for money laundering and/or terrorist financing saying that they were concerned that Western Union "failed to have in place sufficiently robust systems and procedures to train agents, to monitor and identify suspicious activity in respect of smaller transactions, and to maintain appropriate records" and "the splitting of payments into many separate smaller payments is a common method used to launder money.

"[77][78] Western Union agents in the US also allowed Chinese immigrants to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to human smugglers through the service, evading the transfer reporting requirements by sending the amounts in smaller increments.

[76] In 2017, Western Union admitted to money laundering and consumer fraud violations and agreed to pay $586 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice.

[79] Among other charges, the Justice Department showed that Western Union was complicit in creating an ecosystem where criminals were able to engage in consumer fraud and human trafficking.

The book The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 alleged that Western Union provided United States military intelligence with personal information.

[84] In February 2016, Harada Ltd filed a complaint with the EU antitrust regulator claiming that Western Union colluded with banks to push out smaller rivals from the money transfer market.