Like any financial institution, credit unions have the financial resources. Borrowing rate for the credit union is a source of income to cover the administrative costs. All excess funds are returned to members in the form of dividends on savings. 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. 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. 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). Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. U.S. credit unions have another significant difference from the credit cooperatives of farmers: the first have major proportion of short-term loans, the second - long and mostly in real estate.