The first credit union in the United States was founded in 1909. by the group of Franco-American Catholics in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was called "Cooperative Credit Association of St. Mary. " Is necessary that all shareholders of the credit union were members of a single community, would know each other well enough to enjoy mutual trust. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. 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. 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. Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations. 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. The specifics of credit unions and, in some sense, their uniqueness lies in the fact that they work not for profit and do not appropriate profit. Credit union as a consumer cooperative operates on the principles of equality of all its members.