In 1983, Cash America founder Jack Daugherty opened the first Cash America Pawn in Irving, Texas, with hopes to build a company that would serve the under-banked population—those who could not get financial help from traditional financial lenders. After just a few years, he took the company public and has since expanded Cash America to become one of the largest pawnshop chains in the country.

Today, Cash America owns and operates over 1,000 locations in the United States and Mexico, and via the Internet, in the United Kingdom. From Cash America Pawn and SuperPawn, Cashland and Payday Advance to Mr. Payroll, CashNetUSA and Prenda Fácil, the Cash America family of brands offers a multitude of financial services to help people in need, including collateralized loans, cash advances, pre-paid debit cards and more.

• 1983 Company founded by Jack Daugherty with one pawnshop in Irving, Texas.

• 1984 Incorporated as Cash America Investments, Inc.

• 1987 Five million common shares sold in public offering for $14.6 million. Acquired Big State Pawn chain of 47 pawnshops.

• 1990 Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under symbol “PWN”; stock splits 3 for 2.

• 1992 Acquired Harvey & Thompson chain of 26 stores in United Kingdom, the first international venture for Cash America.

• 1994 Opened 300th pawnshop. Reached $1 billion loaned and accumulated over 14 million loan transactions. Acquired Mr. Payroll Corporation (a check-cashing subsidiary).

• 1995 Acquired Svensk Pantbelǻning chain of 10 stores in Sweden.

• 1998 Opened 400th pawnshop. Began franchising Cash America locations.

• 2000 Tested cash advance product in pawn locations.

• 2003 Acquired Cashland (cash advances and check-cashing subsidiary) and solidified the largest single acquisition in our company’s history. Five billion dollars loaned.

• 2004 Initiated move to the Western United States. Sold European subsidiaries Harvey & Thompson and Svensk Pantbelǻning, and acquired the largest remaining independently owned pawnshop chain in the United States—SuperPawn.
  
  Changed New York Stock Exchange symbol to “CSH.”

• 2006 Purchased online lending company— www.CashNetUSA.com —to provide our customers another avenue for securing short-term cash advances.

• 2007 Entered online lending market in United Kingdom with www.QuickQuid.co.uk.

• 2008 Opened 500th pawnshop; purchased majority ownership in Prenda Fácil, the second-largest pawnshop chain in Mexico.

• 2009 Opened 1,000th location through Prenda Fácil in Mexico and expanded online lending into Australia with www.dollarsdirect.com.au.