Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. Credit union services are available only to its shareholders. The relationship of shareholders with credit union are not client-based, they are co-operative, based on different principles and standards, in particular, on the principles of the law of obligations. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. Credit cooperatives and credit unions exist in many different forms. The main differences relate to the nature of the membership and the opening of a credit institution. To increase the number of credit unions in 1979 was adopted the corresponding law that serves as the legal basis of their activity. A potential new member of a credit union must submit a recommendation of shareholders in which the referee becomes a warrant of a future member of the credit union.