Credit union

A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members. Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that the members who have accounts in the credit union are the owners of the credit union - there are no external shareholders. Profits from the operations of a credit union are distributed to members in the form of dividends.

The basic services of a credit union are to offer savings accounts and loans to members.

Credit Union Media

• CoastalFederalCreditUnion-CreedmoorBranch.jpg

  A branch of the Coastal Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, North Carolina

• Statue in Rača, Bratislava of Samuel Jurkovič, founder of the first cooperative in Central Europe, Spolok Gazdovský.jpg

  Statue in Rača, Bratislava of Samuel Jurkovič, founder of the first cooperative, or credit union, in Central Europe (Spolok Gazdovský)

• Credit Union in Warangal, India.JPG

  The directors of the Mulukanoor Women's Thrift Cooperative stand at the entrance to their credit union in Karimnagar district, Telangana, India.

• F.W.Raiffeisen.jpg

  Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the first rural credit unions in Germany.

• Caisse populaire de Lévis circa 1920.jpg

  A caisse populaire credit union in Lévis, Quebec, c. 1920