Welcome to the Check Into Cash Media Center, a source for journalists and the public to learn more about a pioneering company of payday advance. Check Into Cash is based in Cleveland, Tenn., and operates more than 1,100 stores in 30 states. Check Into Cash was instrumental in the organization of the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) - the payday advance industry's trade association. CFSA has established uniform "best practices" standards and has helped enact legislation that balances consumers' interests with those of the industry.

Media Contact Ryan Harris Communications Manager 201 Keith Street SW, Ste. 80 Cleveland, TN 37311 Phone: (423) 473-4227 Email: rharris@checkintocash.com

Press Releases

November 16, 2009
Check Into Cash relocates two centers in California

September 3, 2009
Village Green, CIC headquarters marks decade of revitalization

August 7, 2009
Independent research underscores need for short-term credit in Wisconsin

August 6, 2009
Beware of Phony Debt Collectors

July 22, 2009
Check Into Cash Completes Check Cashing Conversion to Chexar® Risk Management Platform

June 2, 2009
Check Into Cash adds bill pay with Fiserv agreement

February 20, 2009
Check Into Cash partners with Western Union

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Payday Lending Research Federal Reserve Bank of NY Study Shows Banning Payday Loans Harms Customers A new study comparing households with and without the payday loan option shows that in states where payday loans have been abolished, consumers suffer increased financial hardship. Payday Lenders: Heroes or Villains? Adair Morse of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business studied the effect of the availability of high-interest consumer loans on people’s welfare and found that payday lending enhances the welfare of communities. Her results indicate that payday lenders offer a valuable service to a community by providing credit in a very incomplete market. Critics of Payday Lenders have it all wrong: Advance America's Got Growth Payday Lending: Do Outrageous Prices Necessarily Mean Outrageous Profits? Payday lending is a valuable service to hardworking people by Ken Compton, For the Herald-Journal Newspaper Editorial Boards Like The PayDay Lender Bill by Erick Erickson Second thoughts - As report by the Rome-News Tribune

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An article by CEO Allan Jones Showing Comparisons of Payday Advance Industry Profit Margins 'Modest' Compared To Banks and Other Fortune 500 Group Members

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is attempting to limit payday loans to 36% APR. While to the uninformed person this sounds fair, APR is a misleading number on micro-loans (extremely small amounts of money for very short lengths of time). Assuming a fee of $15 for $100 payday advance for 14 days has an APR of 390% .  The math is $15 x 26 = 390. To quote a 365-day rate on a 14-day transaction is misleading. To see the real facts, you would have to convert all the pay day loan company expenses to APR .
Click to see the actual income and expenses of five publicly-traded pay day loan companies quoted in APR only.

Credit Unions who operate tax free and even government-owned credit unions such as the Navy, Pentagon, or State Employees are unable to offer the payday product because of its low margins. While the five publicly-traded payday companies earned an average of 8.0% to the bottom line, these government-owned credit unions earned 7.0% or earned just under the payday companies. Assuming a $15 fee on a $100 payday advance in 2008 earned an average of 8.0% or $1.20. These credit unions, on the same $15 in fee income; earned an average of $1.05. The math is $15 x 6.6 = .99. The math: $15 x 7.0 = $1.05.
Click here to see the Credit Union Comparison Chart

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In 2008 Self Help Credit Union earned 176% Higher Bottom-Line Profit Than The Payday Industry It Criticizes
Hypocritical or Not? ---You Decide

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Self-Help Credit Union headed by Martin Eakes of Durham, NC While the Self-Help Credit Union, through CRL, criticizes the payday advance industry as being predatory and creating a “cycle of debt,” his credit union continues to charge $20 for overdrafts but does not offer a competing payday product. Eakes' hypocritical attacks on the micro-lending industry are best shown by comparison percentage of bottom-line profits of five publicly traded payday advance companies to his credit union rates. Assuming a $15 fee for $100 advanced, which is an average fee per hundred for a payday advance, compared to CRL earnings, payday industry average is 7.8% compared to 14% for the Self-Help Credit Union for the 12 months ending 2008. The math: $15 fee x 8.0% = $1.20. The math:  $15 fee income x 14% = $2.10.  Basically for every dollar payday earns, the Self-Help Credit Union earns $2.10 or 176%.
Click here to view the Real Profit from an Average Payday Advance Fee

This 2004 study, conducted by an independent firm, the Cypress Research group, was commissioned by CFSA to determine customer satisfaction with payday advance.
Click here for the Cypress Report 

This study, released in 2001 and conducted by the Credit Research Center of Georgetown University, is the nation's first economic analysis of consumer demand for, and use of, the payday advance product. Click here for the Georgetown Report

Shattering the Myth of "Cycle of Debt" and Rollovers:
Real Math Tells the Real Story

Why would anyone pay 335% more for coffee?

Individual state records conducted by agencies
that regulate the payday advance industry can be found here

Checklist: The Independent Magazine for
Neighborhood Financial Service Providers article

"Letter From the Editor" highlights of Allan Jones'
presentation at the CFSA Annual Meeting

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The information on this page can be downloaded in its entirety by clicking here OR INDIVIDUAL PAGES 36% APR CAP IS NOT REALISTIC "Chart A" 36% APR CAP IS NOT REALISTIC "Chart B" CFSA Report on Payday Loans Company Net Income Per Operating Location Comparison of Annual Net Income Percent of Revenue Comparison of Net Income Percent of Revenues Recognizable Companies Credit Unions Financial Performance Disproving the Myth of Consumer Dissatisfaction Disproving the Myth of Rollovers and APR vs Convenience Fee How the CRL Manipulates $15 News Article by Allan Jones Payday Advance Companies Compared to Federal Credit Unions Publicly Traded Companies Annual Performance Real Profit from Average Payday Advance Select Federal Credit Union Total Revenues and Net Income for 2005 Self Help Credit Unions Profit vs. Payday What if CRL Were in the Payday Business? Credit Union Comparisons Most Recent Net Profit Margin Comparisons Uncle Sam Knows The Truth