Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Like the credit cooperatives, credit unions form associations of a higher level, which are called corporate credit unions. Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. Until the 70's there was a proliferation of the U.S. credit unions due to the increase of their number and the number of shareholders, although it must be acknowledged that there was also and a qualitative growth. 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. Consumer loan and reliable savings - these are the main goals, which mean "natural persons" having decided to unite in credit consumer cooperative. The relationship between credit unions and shareholders arise from the membership and are not customer relationship. 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.