National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) - an independent federal agency, based in Washington (State of Columbia), established by the U.S. Congress to oversee the federal credit union system. In 1908. the spread of credit unions has reached the United States. In 1935 President Roosevelt signed the state Charter on credit unions, which became a law. Most modern credit unions represent specialized consumer cooperatives of citizens associated by the principle of social community: place of work, place of residence, profession, or any other shared interest. 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. The difference between credit unions and banks is clearly is apparent when comparing the structure of assets and liabilities of credit unions and banks. In the credit union compensation for use of the loan (interest) is a source of compensation for savings. 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.