The supreme body of the World Council of Credit Unions is the Assembly, which elects the president and the board of directors of WOCCU. 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. The value of credit unions is not limited to the role of the economic agent - they are an important element of the social structure and a factor of social stability and progress. 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. 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. Is necessary that all shareholders of the credit union were members of a single community, would know each other well enough to enjoy mutual trust. International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. The relationship between credit unions and shareholders arise from the membership and are not customer relationship. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders.
The value of credit unions is not limited to the role of the economic agent - they are an important element of the social structure and a factor of social stability and progress. 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. 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.