Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. The number of shareholders of a credit union is limited and formalized by a list. Limit of the number is defined by the assembly and such assembly establishes the charter. Typically new members of the credit union become citizens having suretyship or recommendations from their friends - members of the credit union. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. In some cases, the initiators of credit unions can be trade unions, associations such as social support centers and others. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine.