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. 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. Credit unions encourage savings of citizens, setting compensation payments (interest) on savings and provide from these savings loans to their members. Cooperation between credit unions, how they would not have been named, took place always, from the moment when the movement moved outside one credit union. Consumer loan and reliable savings - these are the main goals, which mean "natural persons" having decided to unite in credit consumer cooperative. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. To increase the number of credit unions in 1979 was adopted the corresponding law that serves as the legal basis of their activity.