In the U.S., credit unions have a clear organizational structure. All credit unions belong to one or the other parent credit union (there are 35 of them in the U.S.). Borrowing rate for the credit union is a source of income to cover the administrative costs. All excess funds are returned to members in the form of dividends on savings. Like the credit cooperatives, credit unions form associations of a higher level, which are called corporate credit unions. To reduce the risk of default on loans members of the credit union shall the joint guarantee. 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. In the UK, credit unions are a source of financing of people groups. This tool is not widely used. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. 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. Corporate alliances are intermediaries between credit unions and financial markets.