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.). Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. 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. Share contributions are transferred to the credit union on the basis of membership for the whole stay of a shareholder as member of the credit union and are the basis of membership. 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. 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. Unlike banks, in order to use the services of a credit union, you have to become its member, having written an application and having paid thus shares and membership fee.