Membership in the credit union is voluntary and is open to all citizens bound by with joint work or residence, who wished to create a credit union to use its services and are willing to take on relevant commitments and responsibilities. Income derived from the provision of services to its members, does not become the profit of credit union and is distributed among its members in proportion to their savings. Credit unions base their activities on savings of shareholders, their shares and savings contributions, which make up the fund of mutual financial assistance - a source of cash loans to shareholders. 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. Credit union as a consumer cooperative operates on the principles of equality of all its members.
Credit unions base their activities on savings of shareholders, their shares and savings contributions, which make up the fund of mutual financial assistance - a source of cash loans to shareholders. 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. Income derived from the provision of services to its members, does not become the profit of credit union and is distributed among its members in proportion to their savings.