The credit crisis has felled several of the country’s biggest financial firms, from Wall Street titans Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers to Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan.

But the banks that dominate the local Atlanta scene had remained intact.

All that changed Monday, when an ailing Wachovia Corp. agreed to be snatched up by Citigroup.

Charlotte-based Wachovia commands a 19 percent market share in metro Atlanta in terms of deposits, second to only Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks, according to the most recent available federal data. The bank employs more than 5,000 people in metro Atlanta.

“All the publicity of the past 10 days has been seen as irrelevant for a lot of people in Atlanta,” said Ken Bernhardt, a professor at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business. But the Wachovia sale “brings it all closer to home.”

A Citigroup spokesman said Wachovia customers shouldn’t notice any changes. Checking and savings accounts and ATMs will operate as normal, and CDs will continue to earn the same interest rates.

But the complicated takeover, set to close at the end of the year, has the potential to shake up the region’s banking landscape by introducing a major new player in New York-based Citigroup, one of the top 5 nationally ranked by deposits.

A fierce battle for business could erupt as two of the largest local players — SunTrust and Bank of America — and other large local banks try to woo customers away from Citigroup, said Bernhardt.

Indeed, SunTrust spokesman Barry Koling said the bank sees an opening to grow market share.

“Experience suggests that when there is dislocation like this, customers of banks that are, shall we say, in transition, find SunTrust’s strength, resources and stability very attractive,” Koling said in an e-mail.

Georgia’s community banks should also seize the chance to grow, said Chris Marinac, an analyst at Atlanta-based FIG Partners. Citigroup faces an enormous challenge in absorbing Wachovia, Marinac said, making local banks an attractive option for some individuals and businesses.

“It’s a great time to build deposits, and it’s a great time for banks to be proactive,” he said. “This is not a time for a banker to keep his head in the sand.”

The sudden, rapid consolidation of the U.S. banking industry is fueling speculation that SunTrust and other large Southeastern banks could be takeover targets. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which reportedly had been in talks to buy Wachovia, has little presence in this region, said Georgia State’s Bernhardt.

“If we’re going to get increased bank consolidation, which is what the experts are predicting, SunTrust looks like a pretty good partner for Wells Fargo and others,” he said.

Over the years, Wachovia grew from a regional bank headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., into a national powerhouse by making a number of acquisitions, including First Atlanta in the mid-1980s. In 2001, SunTrust made a bid to take over Wachovia, but the bank rejected the unsolicited offer and stuck to an earlier decision to merge with Charlotte-based First Union.

Citigroup’s takeover of Wachovia could have other repercussions, banking experts said. Wachovia’s front office and professional staff based in Atlanta could see job reductions as positions are consolidated, said Walt Moeling, a banking lawyer with Atlanta firm Powell Goldstein. Wachovia had said in August it would cut more than 11,000 jobs nationally.

Moeling also said the buyout should “rationalize” the local market for CDs.

To bolster capital, “Wachovia has been destroying the local deposit market by paying outrageously high rates for several months, which has penalized the entire banking market,” he said.

He said he expected Citigroup to be a formidable competitor in the local market.

“I don’t think too many people in New York City know how to say ‘y’all’ or ‘ain’t,’” Moeling said, referring to Citigroup’s home base. “But I’m sure they can learn.”