储蓄互助社是合作金融组织，早期信用合作分为农村信用合作社、城市信用合作社。储蓄互助社即脱胎于农村信用合作社(农会、渔会)的基本精神与经营方式，为「非为营利、非为救济、乃是服务」。廿世纪的加拿大与美国发展了一种主要以消费者为社员的信用合作社，称之为Credit Union，又可分为职业性的与地区性的两类，不吸收非社员存款，以消费性放款为主，亦不兼营信用以外之其他业务，储蓄互助社运动于一九三八年传抵亚洲，首在菲律宾推动。二次大战后，渐推广到其他亚洲国家。（香港储蓄互助社俗称为遮仔会），是一种非营利的金融机构，集合会员的储蓄作投资，并定期派发利息回报，亦会向会员提供低息贷款。

A credit union is a member-owned financial cooperative, democratically controlled by its members, and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members. Many credit unions also provide services intended to support community development or sustainable international development on a local level.