Like any financial institution, credit unions have the financial resources. Most modern credit unions represent specialized consumer cooperatives of citizens associated by the principle of social community: place of work, place of residence, profession, or any other shared interest. 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. " 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. Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. The uniqueness of credit unions is that they put together the principles and benefits of financial cooperatives, consumer cooperatives and mutual aid funds, born once by trade unions. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars The relationship between credit unions and shareholders arise from the membership and are not customer relationship. To increase the number of credit unions in 1979 was adopted the corresponding law that serves as the legal basis of their activity. Corporate alliances are intermediaries between credit unions and financial markets.