Many Americans are wondering what the trouble on Wall Street, and the failure of the bailout plan in congress, means for them.

Michiana banks say there's no need to panic because at this point, for them, the problem hasn't hit home.

WNDU spent the Monday talking to presidents of area banks, both before and after the news of bailout vote.

The good news: 1st Source Bank, Notre Dame Federal Credit Union, and Teachers Credit Union are all confident, and say the problems on Wall Street don't really reach them.

The bad news: they're not sure what will happen without a government bailout.

They say one of the basic causes of the national fall-outs, just isn't a problem locally.

“We don’t have to sell bad loans to the government in order to be in business, like some of the others will,” said Duke Jones, President of 1st Source Bank.

All the local banks we talked to said a person who could get a loan from them 6 months ago, could do the same today.

“I think it’s a lot of the larger institutions and investment banks that got us heavily into sub-prime. We didn’t and the other local banks here, to my knowledge, and local credit unions, didn’t either,” Jones said.

WNDU talked to Jones Monday morning, and he said the pending bail-out plan was a key to stability.

“A lot of people don’t like taking this medicine but it’s the best move for us now and I think in the long term it’ll be good for people here locally too,” Jones said.

At the Teachers Credit Union, the national problems hadn't crept in either.

“There is nothing that has changed. We still have the money to loan, we still have the services to offer,” said Rick Rice, President and CEO of TCU.

While WNDU was interviewing Rick Rice Monday afternoon, the bailout plan failed

“It appears it’s going to fail. Jeez, I never thought that, it will be interesting to see what they come back with,” Rice said, watching the news on a TV in his office.

He hopes something comes back soon; because while his bank should be fine on its own, the rest of the economy has to be stable, too.

“It’s business as usual here, but on the long term, we're not an island. They need to get this rectified on a national basis or it will catch up with us down the line, and by that I mean our community,” Rice said.

The local banks urge that there is no need for anyone to worry about their money in the bank, because as long as it is insured, such as through FDIC and NCUA.

They're also worried about the way people will react to the news; that maybe they'll stop spending, or try to hold out for lower prices.

Rice says that really just hurts the overall economy.

For now the banks are recommending people carry on as usual, as they are, and are suggesting you make sure you're smart about where you're putting your money.