Membership in the credit union is voluntary and is open to all citizens bound by with joint work or residence, who wished to create a credit union to use its services and are willing to take on relevant commitments and responsibilities. Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders. The value of credit unions is not limited to the role of the economic agent - they are an important element of the social structure and a factor of social stability and progress. In the UK, credit unions are a source of financing of people groups. This tool is not widely used. 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.