Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Main share of credit unions assets is concentrated in loans (about 50%), while the share of consumer loans in commercial banks and finance companies active operations rarely exceeds 15%. The most common type of loans in credit unions are loans to purchase new and used cars (40%), followed by first mortgages and second mortgages (35%), about 10% are unsecured personal loans to member of unions and about 15% - are loans on credit cards and other loans. Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. At the organization of the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. The relationship of shareholders with credit union are not client-based, they are co-operative, based on different principles and standards, in particular, on the principles of the law of obligations. 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). 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.