National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) - an independent federal agency, based in Washington (State of Columbia), established by the U.S. Congress to oversee the federal credit union system. In recent decades, many credit unions began to resort to such form of service as The economic basis of credit unions - finances of a household. The main objective of the credit union - to ensure financial stability of a household, to ensure the priority of their shareholders' financial interests. 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. Standards by which credit unions build their work do not coincide with the standards and regulations of consumer cooperation of the usual type. On the consumer credit market in the U.S. credit unions are on the third place after the commercial banks and finance companies and are ahead of savings institutions, not taking into account the loans on real estate. Corporate alliances are intermediaries between credit unions and financial markets.