Check Into Cash

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. 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. 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. Check Into Cash has also acquired Title First Title Pawn, which is based in Georgia. == Other organizations ==

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. The firm has affiliate companies that operate under these brand names: • 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. == Criticism ==

The company has been criticized for its exorbitant interest rates and has been accused of exploiting the poor. 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. 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. == See also ==