Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Corporate credit unions are united on a cooperative basis in the Central Credit Union (US Central Credit Union). Most modern credit unions represent specialized consumer cooperatives of citizens associated by the principle of social community: place of work, place of residence, profession, or any other shared interest. Credit unions of the open type are still controlled by their members, but at the same time provide services to people who are not its members (external customers). Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations.