C reditun ion s are n otfor profitcooperativ e fin an cial
in stitution s w hich prov ide fin an cial serv ices to a m em bership
defin ed on the basis of a com m on bon d. In 2013 there w ere
56,904 credit un ion s across 103 coun tries w ith 207.9 m illion
m em bers. There is a g reat div ersity w ithin the credit un ion
m ov em en t across these coun tries. This reflects the v arious
econ om ic, historican d cultural con texts w ithin w hich credit
un ion s operate.This paper traces the historical dev elopm en tof
creditun ion s in differen tparts of the w orld.W e in v estig ate w hat
sets credit un ion s apart from other fin an cial serv ices
org an isation s,placin g a particular focus on the role they play in
buildin g social capital an dcom m un ity relation s an dem pow erin g
m em bers. W e also discuss the challen g es to the future
dev elopm en tof creditun ion s.These in clude in creasedreg ulatory
burden s,capital con strain ts,declin in g m em bershipin volv em en t,
an dten sion s betw een social an decon om icobjectiv es