Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. In the U.S. credit unions timely and full repayment of loans is a common phenomenon. Unpaid and delinquent loans are not more than 3% of their amount. Income received by the credit union shall be distributed among the shareholders or spent for the depreciation of services, that is, are the most effective means of meeting the needs of shareholders. Members of credit unions place in credit unions usually free fund balances, ie those that remain after expenses devoted to education of children, the acquisition of new properties, additional pension benefits, etc. As of the January 1, 2012 the national associations and confederations unite more than 196 million members participating in the 51,013 credit unions in 100 countries. Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. Standards by which credit unions build their work do not coincide with the standards and regulations of consumer cooperation of the usual type. The right to use the services of the credit union have only its members. Corporate alliances are intermediaries between credit unions and financial markets.