Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders. Over 30% of the assets of credit unions are investments in government securities, certificates of deposit of banks and savings loan associations, as well as in the parent credit unions, and other risk-free investments. In the credit union compensation for use of the loan (interest) is a source of compensation for savings. Taking a decision to join a credit union, citizens create an organization through which they participate in the shared savings by mutual crediting and joint (collective) use of personal savings. Standards by which credit unions build their work do not coincide with the standards and regulations of consumer cooperation of the usual type.