The economic basis of credit unions - finances of a household. The main objective of the credit union - to ensure financial stability of a household, to ensure the priority of their shareholders' financial interests. Credit unions encourage savings of citizens, setting compensation payments (interest) on savings and provide from these savings loans to their members. Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. The difference between credit unions and banks is clearly is apparent when comparing the structure of assets and liabilities of credit unions and banks. 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. International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. 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. 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. To increase the number of credit unions in 1979 was adopted the corresponding law that serves as the legal basis of their activity.