Credit unions encourage savings of citizens, setting compensation payments (interest) on savings and provide from these savings loans to their members. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. Since the early 80's started the process of consolidation of credit unions, leading to a decrease in their number with a simultaneous increase in the total number of members. International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. Credit unions are competitors of savings institutions, adding interest on deposits of members. This applies to the shares, as well as to additional funds transferred to the account in the credit union. Historically, credit unions have grown from the experience of credit cooperatives, but they took the experience of organizations of mutual aid of citizens by moving methods of social self-protection from labor and toward consumption.