Credit unions attract people in the first place by the opportunity to get cash loan (credit) - quickly and relatively inexpensively. Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. Credit unions also differ from the traditional consumer cooperatives. The difference between credit unions and banks is clearly is apparent when comparing the structure of assets and liabilities of credit unions and banks. 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. The right to use the services of the credit union have only its members. Credit unions historically formed as a special form of social support, initially taken upon themselves the social mission of protecting the interests of citizens in the field of financial services. U.S. credit unions have another significant difference from the credit cooperatives of farmers: the first have major proportion of short-term loans, the second - long and mostly in real estate. Credit union as a consumer cooperative operates on the principles of equality of all its members.