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 perform the function of social protection in a vital for people sphere of financial services. They care about improving the financial literacy of the population, are working on the formation of their members and their employees. Credit union services are available only to its shareholders. The right to use the services of the credit union have only its members. 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.