The economic basis of credit unions - finances of a household. The main objective of the credit union - to ensure financial stability of a household, to ensure the priority of their shareholders' financial interests. Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. Credit union promotes the effective conservation of personal funds of its members, giving them the loans from the funds of the credit union, as well as the sharing of savings in education, housing, health care and other programs of social support and social development of its members. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. The relationship between credit unions and shareholders arise from the membership and are not customer relationship. 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.