A credit union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. Credit unions serve people that have a "common bond", such as residents of a defined community, a place of employment, or membership in a group or a professional organization. Credit unions are owned by depositors. That's why customers are known as "members". The credit union idea was born in 1849 in a small town in Germany where the residents needed a financial system that would respond to their needs. The idea caught on and spread to the United States.