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CUNA (Credit Union National Association) which has a place of location in Washington D.C. and Madison Wisconsin is the premier national trade association serving America's credit unions. U.S. credit unions can be chartered by either the federal government ("federal credit unions") or by a state. Modern credit union history dates to 1852 when Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch consolidated the learning from two pilot projects one in Eilenburg and the other in Delitzsch in Germany into what are generally recognized as the first credit unions in the world. The largest corporate credit union in the United States is U.S. Central Credit Union of Lenexa Kansas which serves as a central clearing house for other corporate credit unions and holds approximately $45.3 billion in assets. A credit union's policies governing interest rates and other matters are set by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by and from the membership itself. 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 and they elect their board of directors in a democratic one-person-one-vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the credit union. In the United States as of 2005 credit unions have 86 million members which is 43% of the economically active population. U.S. credit unions are not-for-profit cooperative tax-exempt organizations. In addition to the savings and loan operations credit unions of the U.S. provide some other services in the interests of its members:
1) direct debiting of funds from their accounts as payment for goods and services;
2) The issuance of credit and debit card payment systems of VISA American Express and their own cards but with a limited range of action;
3) advice on financial and tax planning;
4) provision of guarantees for the obligations of a shareholder to third parties; act as agents for insurance contracts.