credit cooperative formed by an organized group of people with some common bond who, in effect, save their money together and make low-cost loans to each other. The loans are usually short-term consumer loans, mainly for automobiles, household needs, medical debts, and emergencies. In less-developed countries these loans are particularly important, constituting the only credit source for many people, and are used primarily for farm production and small business enterprise. Credit unions generally operate under government charter and supervision. At annual meetings the members elect the directors, the credit committee, and the supervisory committee.

The credit-union movement stems from societies founded in the middle 1800s by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Germany and Luigi Luzzatti in Italy. The first credit union in North America was organized in 1900 at Lévis, Quebec, by Alphonse Desjardins, a legislative reporter whose work had alerted him to the hardships caused by usury. Desjardins also helped organize the first credit union in the United States in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1909. In that same year Massachusetts passed the first state law recognizing credit unions. A study by bank commissioner Pierre Jay and strong support by Desjardins and Edward A. Filene (Filene, Edward A.), a Boston merchant, facilitated passage of the law. In 1921, to accelerate U.S. credit union growth, Filene set up and financed the Credit Union National Extension Bureau.

In 1934 the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), a federation of credit-union leagues, was established by the credit unions themselves to take over the work of the bureau. Another organization, the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc., represents credit unions worldwide.