Like the credit cooperatives, credit unions form associations of a higher level, which are called corporate credit unions. 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. Taking a decision to join a credit union, citizens create an organization through which they participate in the shared savings by mutual crediting and joint (collective) use of personal savings. The relationship between credit unions and shareholders arise from the membership and are not customer relationship.