Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Main share of credit unions assets is concentrated in loans (about 50%), while the share of consumer loans in commercial banks and finance companies active operations rarely exceeds 15%. The most common type of loans in credit unions are loans to purchase new and used cars (40%), followed by first mortgages and second mortgages (35%), about 10% are unsecured personal loans to member of unions and about 15% - are loans on credit cards and other loans. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations. Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. Cooperation between credit unions, how they would not have been named, took place always, from the moment when the movement moved outside one credit union. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. 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.