WAKE FOREST, N.C. – Joe O'Keefe is not typically a risk taker.
But he and his wife are taking the biggest risk of their lives by opening a new Wake Forest wine store called Wine 101.
They tried a handful of banks, but even with a great credit history, it was nearly impossible for them to get a loan.
"I was basically told there is no credit," O'Keefe said.
That's because banks have begun to charge more to lend money to each other.
"What happens in all these things is funds are available, but the price goes up. And as it gets more expensive, it becomes too expensive to loan out," Paul Stock, executive vice president of the N.C. Bankers Association, said. "Yes, you might be able to get the money you need to make the loan, but you have to charge your customers so much that they can't afford to pay it."
News 14 Carolina's Ilin Chen has more on how the credit crunch will affect you.
But even for those who aren't bankers or small business owners, the credit crunch will trickle down to wallets and credit cards.
"We could very well see higher interest rates on credit cards," N.C. State economist Mike Walden said. "There have been some who've said we may even see a situation where your credit limits are lowered so the amount you can have on your credit card might go down."
Economists and bankers are counting on the government to act quickly before the crunch gets even tighter.
Meanwhile, O'Keefe has poured his savings into his wine store to get it started. And now, he just hopes to make it through the first few months.
"We're going to try our best to have a unique product and make sure people have a unique experience in our shop and hope that people will ride it out and want to stock up on that wine so they can celebrate when their 401Ks go back up," O'Keefe said.
The Bankers Association said the state's banking industry can withstand the credit crunch.
But, they would like to see the government take some kind of action before large companies are forced to lay off workers because they can't get the money to pay them.