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. Like the credit cooperatives, credit unions form associations of a higher level, which are called corporate credit unions. The number of shareholders of a credit union is limited and formalized by a list. Limit of the number is defined by the assembly and such assembly establishes the charter. 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. Members of credit unions place in credit unions usually free fund balances, ie those that remain after expenses devoted to education of children, the acquisition of new properties, additional pension benefits, etc. 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. International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. 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. Contributions from of shareholders in credit unions in no way can be considered as borrowed funds, they come from the shareholders and for the shareholders and can not be used to provide services to third parties.