Prosper offers people the chance to borrow or lend money online and completely bypass the banking system. As a borrower, you usually get money at a lower interest rate than you would at a bank. As a lender, you minimize your risk by lending in little slices to a lot of people. But some folks are still scared off by even the thought of losing money if they were to lend. One possible solution comes from Zopa, a European-based business that has just launched in the United States. This peer-to-peer lending site works with credit unions to get FDIC insurance on the money you lend out. So even if your borrower defaults, you still get your money back! The catch, of course, is that the rate of return is much lower than at Prosper. But Zopa is really a novel idea. Instead of completely bypassing the banking system, it uses a credit union as an intermediary. Clark promised a few weeks back that he would try out some of the P2P lending sites and report back on his findings. But he hasn't gotten around to it yet. Stay tuned for more…