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. " 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. Income derived from the provision of services to its members, does not become the profit of credit union and is distributed among its members in proportion to their savings. 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). 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. Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations.