Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. The difference between credit unions and banks is clearly is apparent when comparing the structure of assets and liabilities of credit unions and banks. Credit union promotes the effective conservation of personal funds of its members, giving them the loans from the funds of the credit union, as well as the sharing of savings in education, housing, health care and other programs of social support and social development of its members. Typically new members of the credit union become citizens having suretyship or recommendations from their friends - members of the credit union. 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. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business 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. 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.