2008 October (3)

George Bailey, Where Are You?

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Wow, half the banks we knew and trusted last week are gone. This one bought that one, that one closed, the others merged and rest are waiting for a bailout that may never come.

“Don’t look now but there’s something funny going on over there at the bank George. I’ve really never seen one but that’s got all the earmarks of being a run.”

I think I’ve waited all my life to quote Ernie the Cab driver from It’s a Wonderful Life…I think it was worth it, don’t you?

A run on the bank…it sounds scary because well, it is. When the place we go to for money closes its doors, where does that leave us? Where do we put our money? Where do we borrow money? Recently, the headlines have been screaming it and I know it’s on all our lips…is this the next, new Great Depression? George Bailey where are you now?

I think I know but bare with me…I’ll get there.

I work in marketing and a few years back I was involved in the re-branding of this insurance company. We hired an outside firm to “re-think” what the brand meant to us and to our customers. We sat in a room for hours, listening to a ponytail-clad executive telling us how to “re-feel” the customer experience. But one thing stuck. After striking his best Abercrombie & Fitch pose, ponytail–boy asked, “If your company was a person, who would that person be?” And that’s how I know where George Bailey is today. Told you I’d get there.

Here it is. George Bailey is us…people and Prosper. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you can check it out at Prosper.com. It’s people helping people. Those who have – help make loans. Those who need - borrow. Pretty simple stuff; pretty amazing stuff.

Prosper harkens back to a time when helping individuals was part of what a community was all about. The old Savings & Loan concept is alive and well. People looking for loans from $1,000 to $25,000 can go to Prosper and appeal to the George Bailey in all of us as people bid on the amount and interest rate of the loan. Just people helping people…and all without a bank. As our “real life” run on the banks continues, Prosper and its members may be among the last, safe places to get a loan.

So, as banks fold and our faith in financial institutions fade, it’s nice to know there’s still a little bit of Bedford Falls out there. Like their slogan says, “Let’s bank on each other.” And, don’t worry. Like in the movies, things seem to work out in the end.