Income received by the credit union shall be distributed among the shareholders or spent for the depreciation of services, that is, are the most effective means of meeting the needs of shareholders. At the organization of the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. All the members of the credit union, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, as well as the size of the monetary share have equal rights. 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. As of the January 1, 2012 the national associations and confederations unite more than 196 million members participating in the 51,013 credit unions in 100 countries. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Credit unions are competitors of savings institutions, adding interest on deposits of members. This applies to the shares, as well as to additional funds transferred to the account in the credit union. The main activities of credit unions, aimed at the organization of mutual aid and social support of citizens is not intended to profit. Credit unions are financial institutions, financial cooperatives of citizens, and in this capacity they are above all associations of people, not unification of capitals, which is typical, for example, for public companies.