Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Credit unions encourage savings of citizens, setting compensation payments (interest) on savings and provide from these savings loans to their members. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. 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. Credit unions historically formed as a special form of social support, initially taken upon themselves the social mission of protecting the interests of citizens in the field of financial services.