Main share of credit unions assets is concentrated in loans (about 50%), while the share of consumer loans in commercial banks and finance companies active operations rarely exceeds 15%. The most common type of loans in credit unions are loans to purchase new and used cars (40%), followed by first mortgages and second mortgages (35%), about 10% are unsecured personal loans to member of unions and about 15% - are loans on credit cards and other loans. Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. In the U.S. credit unions timely and full repayment of loans is a common phenomenon. Unpaid and delinquent loans are not more than 3% of their amount. Over 30% of the assets of credit unions are investments in government securities, certificates of deposit of banks and savings loan associations, as well as in the parent credit unions, and other risk-free investments. Standards by which credit unions build their work do not coincide with the standards and regulations of consumer cooperation of the usual type. 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. 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.