In the U.S., credit unions have a clear organizational structure. All credit unions belong to one or the other parent credit union (there are 35 of them in the U.S.). Typically, donor contributions to the credit unions are targeted and used in the same statutory requirements and restrictions as the Mutual Financial Aid fund as a whole. Like any financial institution, credit unions have the financial resources. Main share of credit unions assets is concentrated in loans (about 50%), while the share of consumer loans in commercial banks and finance companies active operations rarely exceeds 15%. The most common type of loans in credit unions are loans to purchase new and used cars (40%), followed by first mortgages and second mortgages (35%), about 10% are unsecured personal loans to member of unions and about 15% - are loans on credit cards and other loans. The uniqueness of credit unions is that they put together the principles and benefits of financial cooperatives, consumer cooperatives and mutual aid funds, born once by trade unions. First central bank of credit unions appeared in 1876. Credit unions began to appear rapidly in many European countries. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. The right to use the services of the credit union have only its members. Credit unions historically formed as a special form of social support, initially taken upon themselves the social mission of protecting the interests of citizens in the field of financial services.