Corporate credit unions are united on a cooperative basis in the Central Credit Union (US Central Credit Union). 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. " When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. Credit unions of the open type are still controlled by their members, but at the same time provide services to people who are not its members (external customers). Credit unions base their activities on savings of shareholders, their shares and savings contributions, which make up the fund of mutual financial assistance - a source of cash loans to shareholders. U.S. credit unions have another significant difference from the credit cooperatives of farmers: the first have major proportion of short-term loans, the second - long and mostly in real estate.