National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) - an independent federal agency, based in Washington (State of Columbia), established by the U.S. Congress to oversee the federal credit union system. Like the credit cooperatives, credit unions form associations of a higher level, which are called corporate credit unions. All the members of the credit union, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, as well as the size of the monetary share have equal rights. Credit unions are competitors of savings institutions, adding interest on deposits of members. This applies to the shares, as well as to additional funds transferred to the account in the credit union.