Credit unions are co-operative financial organizations, owned and managed by members to promote prudence, provide credit at fair rates and with fair terms and provide a range of other financial services to its members.

Most credit union organizations strive to develop a sense of community development or intercontinental growth at a local level.

Credit unions are very different from many other types of financial organizations since it is the members who have accounts in the credit union who are the actual owners of the credit union itself. As such, it is the credit union members who elect the board of directors in a voting system that is impartial and democratic, and the stake that each member has in the credit union has no bearing to the weight of his/her vote.

Credit unions are typically smaller than banks.