To date, credit unions - virtually the only form of financial institution where people can quickly and without any problems get a relatively inexpensive cash loan. Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. Typically new members of the credit union become citizens having suretyship or recommendations from their friends - members of the credit union. Income derived from the provision of services to its members, does not become the profit of credit union and is distributed among its members in proportion to their savings. Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations. Credit cooperatives and credit unions exist in many different forms. The main differences relate to the nature of the membership and the opening of a credit institution. 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.