To date, credit unions - virtually the only form of financial institution where people can quickly and without any problems get a relatively inexpensive cash loan. 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. Credit unions perform the function of social protection in a vital for people sphere of financial services. They care about improving the financial literacy of the population, are working on the formation of their members and their employees. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations. Credit union as a consumer cooperative operates on the principles of equality of all its members.