If your bank is one of the reported nine that failed the Federal Reserve’s stress test, the domino effect could be rough.

Of course though, “rough” doesn’t equate to “panic” and that’s the good news, considering how ill many U.S. banks were late last year.

According to the stress test results, 10 US banks (out of 19) need more money; about $75 billion to protect themselves against losses from bad loans, especially if the economy grows even weaker.

Now that Uncle Sam knows, more or less where the big U.S. banks stand, the plan going forward is for banks who require more capital to lay out a blueprint on how they would raise the money and what they would do with it once they got it. The idea is that banks that require more cash to aggressively pursue revenue options in the private market before turning to the American taxpayer.

For six months, that’s exactly what banks are expected to do. At the end of the six-month period, if the banks don’t raise the money, the government could step in and fund ailing banks with part of the $780 billion bailout money approved by Congress early this year.

That’s the bank’s end of the deal. But what happens if your bank is on the list of failed financial institutions. What does that mean for you?

For starters, banks that passed the stress test are a boon to both customers and shareholders. Healthier banks have more money to lend, and should earn more on loans to businesses and individuals as a result. Shareholders benefit because, with more stable borrowers paying banks interest on their loans, the more money banks make. For example, U.S. Bancorp (Stock Quote: USB) saw its stock price rise from $18 to almost $21 per share after the news came out that it didn’t need any more bailout money.

Conversely, banks that need money, ike Bank of America (Stock Quote: BAC), which needs $33.9 billion, have seen their stock price decline from over $14.50 to under $11.50 per share in the past week or so. Banks that need to raise more post stress-test money may have to issue more stick to raise the cash, thus diluting the value of their existing shares of stock.

For account holders, the impact of being a customer of a failed bank isn’t as big a deal. Since bank deposits of up to $250,000 are fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, your money is safe. It’s the same story for mortgage holders as well. If your lender failed the stress test, it won’t change much … you’ll still send your monthly mortgage to your lender. If your bank failed, you’d simply send your house payment to the new bank that took over the failed bank’s assets.

One possible repercussion is for bank credit card customers. If their bank failed the stress test, and wound up needing more money, they could raise rates on credit cards to generate some quick cash (while they still can before Congress acts to limit credit card interest rates). Watch your monthly statements for any signs of proposed rate increases.

With banks and stress tests, the old saying that “you don’t know what you don’t know – until you know” applies. Now the Federal Reserve, shareholders, and account holders know where the big banks stand, financially.

The impact on bank customers should be minimal, but if the economy worsens, that could change … and fast.

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