Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. To reduce the risk of default on loans members of the credit union shall the joint guarantee. Until the 70's there was a proliferation of the U.S. credit unions due to the increase of their number and the number of shareholders, although it must be acknowledged that there was also and a qualitative growth. As of the January 1, 2012 the national associations and confederations unite more than 196 million members participating in the 51,013 credit unions in 100 countries. In the credit union compensation for use of the loan (interest) is a source of compensation for savings. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars