Check Into Cash

File:Check Into Cash store.jpg

Jones founded Check Into Cash in 1993. He has been referred to as "the father of the payday lending industry" for creating the first national payday lending chain.{{cite web|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/usury-country/|title=Usury Country | Harper's Magazine|date=April 2009|publisher=harpers.org|accessdate=2014-03-16}}

In 1973, at age 20, he left college, where he had been pursuing a business degree, to help stabilize the family’s business, the Credit Bureau of Cleveland (TN). He purchased the reporting and debt collection business in 1977 and built it into one of the largest credit bureau databases in Tennessee. He sold the credit reporting side of the business to Equifax in 1988, retaining the name and collection agency division. He then built the company to be the largest in the state and sold it in 1998.

Check Into Cash has grown to become one of the largest payday loan companies in the United States, with over 1,200 locations.

In 2012, the firm acquired Cash and Cheque Express, a consumer financial services chain in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19207497/article-CIC-buys-overseas-business|title=Cleveland Daily Banner - CIC buys overseas business|publisher=clevelandbanner.com|accessdate=2014-03-16|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316110557/http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19207497/article-CIC-buys-overseas-business|archivedate=2014-03-16}}

In 2013, the firm acquired Great American Pawn and Title and Quick loans, both based in Georgia, plus Great American Cash Advance and Nations Quick Cash Title Pawn, which operate in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.{{cite web|url=http://www.myajc.com/news/business/check-into-cash-expanding-pawnshop-reach-in-metro-/nbJgK/|title=Check Into Cash expanding pawnshop reach in metro Atlanta | www.myajc.com|publisher=myajc.com|accessdate=2014-03-16}} Check Into Cash has also acquired Title First Title Pawn, which is based in Georgia.{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandbanner.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Check+Into+Cash+Title+Pawn++acquires+Georgia+locations%20&id=23496667|title=Cleveland Daily Banner - Check Into Cash Title Pawn acquires Georgia locations|publisher=clevelandbanner.com|accessdate=2014-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316111359/http://www.clevelandbanner.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Check+Into+Cash+Title+Pawn++acquires+Georgia+locations%20&id=23496667|archive-date=2014-03-16|url-status=dead}}

Previously, Check Into Cash was a founding member of the Community Financial Services Association of America, which sets best practices standards for its members in the payday advance industry.{{cite web|url=http://cfsaa.com/about-cfsa/2013-cfsa-corporate-members.aspx|title=CFSA > About CFSA|publisher=cfsaa.com|accessdate=2014-03-16}}

The firm has affiliate companies that operate under these brand names:{{cite web|url=http://www.jonesmanagement.com/our_companies.htm|title=Our Companies|publisher=jonesmanagement.com|accessdate=2014-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316004648/http://www.jonesmanagement.com/our_companies.htm|archive-date=2014-03-16|url-status=dead}}

• U.S. Money Shops
• U.S. Money Title Loan
• U.S. Money Shops Pawn
• Check Into Cash Title Pawn
• LoanByPhone.com
• Title First Title Pawn
• Great American Pawn and Title
• Great American Cash Advance
• Quic!oans
• Nations Quick Cash Title Pawn

As of recently, Check Into Cash has been bought out and is now an entity of Community Choice Financial Institution. CCFI owns Cash 1 and California Check Cashing Stores as well.

The company has been criticized for its exorbitant interest rates and has been accused of exploiting the poor.{{Cite news|url=https://bestcompany.com/payday-loans/company/check-into-cash|title=Check Into Cash Reviews - Real Customer Reviews|work=Best Company|access-date=2017-10-02|language=en-us}} The payday loan model is instituted with the intent that customers will be unable to pay back the debt in the allotted time, causing them to renew the loan multiple times, resulting in interest several times greater than the original sum of money borrowed.{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2008-05-29|title=You can settle the loan on payday – but the APR could be more than 2,000 per cent |first=Lisa |last=Bachelor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2008/jun/29/interestrates.internet |location=London}} This business model, once illegal in many states, was made possible after Jones donated to the campaigns of several state legislators, convincing them to legalize it.{{cite journal|last=Brook|first=Daniel|title=Usury country: Welcome to the birthplace of payday lending|journal=Harper's Magazine|date=April 2009|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/0082451|accessdate=January 7, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324014832/https://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/0082451|archivedate=2009-03-24}}

• Alternative financial services in the United States
• Payday loans in the United States

{{Reflist}}

• [http://checkintocash.com/ Official Website]
• [http://local.checkintocash.com/ Check Into Cash Locations]
• [http://loanbyphone.com/ LoanByPhone] A wholly owned subsidiary of Check Into Cash, Inc
• [https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z0aZTOTZlHTY.kOCMVj_QNL1k Check Into Cash on the Map]

Category:Financial services companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Tennessee

Category:Privately held companies based in Tennessee

Category:Financial services companies established in 1993

Category:1993 establishments in Tennessee

Category:Companies based in Cleveland, Tennessee