Cash America Pawn is well known as the company operating the greatest number of pawnshops in the world, but the company offers many other services, as well. Cash America Pawn has been meeting the short-term financial needs of a previously under-served market since 1983, and has built their company into a leader in the industry.
History Of Cash America Pawn, Inc.
In 1983, a man named Jack Daugherty had been operating a single pawnshop for many years, but he had a dream of building a company that would have a string of pawnshops across the country. He had the ability and knowledge to manage pawn transactions in a way that was both profitable and helpful to his customer base. Daugherty recognized a need for this type of financial service and realized that traditional financial institutions were overlooking his market segment.
He had the foresight to see a need and the understanding of how to meet that need. He also was extremely capable of handling all the intricate details of a pawn business. Perhaps even more importantly, Daugherty knew his customers and felt that the adage "the customer comes first" was essential to the success of any business endeavor.
Cash America Pawn has built the company base steadily by a two-fold strategy of taking over existing pawnshops while continuing to open new shop locations. In January of 1987, Cash America Pawn debuted with its initial public offering (IPO) and began being traded on the American Stock Exchange. Just three short years later, the company's shares were bumped up to the New York Stock Exchange, where they continue to be traded under the "CSH" stock symbol.
In 1992, Cash America Pawn entered the United Kingdom market by purchasing Harvey and Thompson, the largest pawnshop chain in the UK. Continuing to build its global brand, the company next acquired the largest pawnshop company in Sweden in 1994, called Svensk Pantbelaning. In that same year, Cash America Pawn entered the check cashing business in the US by purchasing Mr. Payroll Corp., which was the largest company in the US providing convenience-store based check cashing services.
After building on its existing businesses for several years, Cash America Pawn began a new series of expansions in August of 2003 when it acquired CashLand. This company operated a chain of consumer finance centers that offered money transfers, check cashing, and payday advance services. This acquisition opened a whole new market for Cash America Pawn in a rising payday advance industry.
In September 2004, Cash America Pawn divested itself of its European operations in order to focus on growing its customer base in the U.S. marketplace. In December of the same year, Cash America Pawn finalized a deal to buy SuperPawn, which was the largest independently owned pawnshop chain in America at that time. This acquisition opened up four new states to Cash America Pawn in the western part of the country.
Cash America Pawn made its latest purchase on September 18, 2006 when it purchased CashNetUSA. This company allowed Cash America Pawn to enter the online payday advance market, a rapidly growing industry segment.
CashNetUSA offers payday loans to consumers in 27 states across the country.
Cash America Pawn Services
Cash America Pawn leads the market in secured non-recourse lending to individuals, typically referred to as pawn loans. Under the brand names of Cash America Pawn and SuperPawn, the company now operates more than 450 pawnshop location in the United States. Pawn lending has been around for thousands of years, but Cash America Pawn has reinvented the concept for the modern day consumer.
Since its founding in 1983, Cash America Pawn has focused on offering bright, well organized shops with friendly, professionally trained staff members. The blue and white Cash America Pawn logo has come to symbolize a fast source of funds for many pawnshop customers. As the industry leader in the pawnshop businesses, Cash America Pawn also has a reputation for offering excellent values on a wide variety of pre-owned, quality merchandise such as home electronics, fine jewelry, tools, and sporting goods.
Since expanding its financial service offerings, Cash America Pawn is also known for providing a variety of consumer products throughout its wide network of locations and subsidiaries. Consumers can access convenient check cashing services at any of the Mr. Payroll centers. Customers also have the ability to take out short-term cash advances through most of the pawn locations, the Cash America Pawn branded payday advance branches, and through its subsidiary company, CashLand. CashNetUSA further expands the availability of cash advance services through its Internet services provided on its website.
Since 2002, Cash America Pawn has been expanding with stand-alone payday advance locations. These shops are conveniently located throughout Texas and California, with over 100 branches currently operating. Consumers in those areas can access short-term funds in just a few minutes by taking a cash advance at one of these locations.
If a Customer is Ever Dissatisfied With Cash America Pawn's Service
Cash America Pawn still operates on Jack Daugherty's founding principle of putting the customer first. Cash America Pawn receives few complaints, as it is always striving to provide friendly, professional service to its customers. If a customer should ever encounter an issue with Cash America Pawn service, they should contact the company's customer service department by either email or telephone, so that Cash America Pawn can get the issue resolved.
