Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Like any financial institution, credit unions have the financial resources. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders. 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). 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. 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.