As you may have read, Citigroup recently agreed to purchase Wachovia’s banking operations for about $2.1 billion in a deal brokered by federal regulators. Wachovia’s troubles are similar to those of Washington Mutual, whose assets were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation last week and sold to JPMorgan Chase. Wachovia sold thousands of adjustable rate mortgages that offered low introductory and deferred interest payments. The delinquencies and defaults on these types of mortgages have been increasing, resulting in huge losses for banks.

Wachovia is the latest casualty in the banking industry. The Citigroup acquisition will now reduce the number of major national banks, leaving only Citicorp, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Financial institutions have tightened credit guidelines and restricted credit to the regular guy so severely that it’s all but impossible to get a personal loan in many states. What are regular people like you and me to do? It’s frightening. Most of us are fortunate enough to still have a job and a home, and are able to go to a restaurant or sporting event once in a while. But you may know of someone who has recently fallen on harder times, even though they have a good credit history. Where can they go for relief?

They can come to Prosper. Why not tell someone you know about Prosper – help your neighbor out. Perhaps they have not heard of person-to person lending. What’s more, if someone you refer gets a loan successfully through Prosper and makes their first payment, you can even get a $50 reward.

And why not tell your friends about helping others out through Prosper – suggest they become a lender.  It can be a rewarding experience.

Saving as much you can is important, but it is equally important to reach out to help others in need.