Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)	6 Months Ended
Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)	Jun. 30, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis Of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements include all of the accounts of Cash America International, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”). All significant intercompany accounts and transactions other than those related to Enova International, Inc. (“Enova”), which previously comprised the Company’s e-commerce segment (as discussed further below), have been eliminated in consolidation. Upon completion of the distribution of approximately 80% of the outstanding shares of Enova common stock to the Company’s shareholders on November 13, 2014 (“Enova Spin-off”), the Company reclassified Enova’s financial results to discontinued operations in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2014 and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014. Intercompany accounts and transactions related to Enova are presented separately between the Company’s continuing and discontinued operations. These accounts and transactions were previously eliminated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. This presentation detail is included in the financial statements due to the significance of these accounts and transactions. The specific elements are reflected in “Interest income,” “Interest income from note receivable,” “Proceeds from note receivable” and “Dividends received” in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. These reclassifications had no impact on consolidated results previously reported. See Note 2 for further discussion of discontinued operations. Unless stated otherwise, the discussion of the Company’s business and financial information throughout this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q refers to the Company’s continuing operations and results from continuing operations. The financial statements presented as of June 30, 2015 and 2014 and for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 are unaudited but, in management’s opinion, include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the results for such interim periods. The consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014 included herein was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Operating results for the three- and six-month periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. The Company has one reportable operating segment, which consists of the Company’s operations. The Company’s primary line of business is pawn lending. A related activity of the pawn lending operations is the disposition of collateral from forfeited pawn loans and the liquidation of a smaller volume of merchandise purchased directly from customers or from third parties. Another component of the Company’s business is originating, arranging, guaranteeing or purchasing consumer loans in some of its locations. The Company also offers check cashing services through its franchised check cashing centers and some Company-owned lending locations, in addition to offering debit cards, which are issued and serviced by a third party, through some of its Company-owned lending locations. In July 2015, the Company ceased offering certain ancillary products and services, including money orders, wire transfers and auto insurance. Because the Company has only one reportable segment, all required financial segment information can be found directly in the consolidated financial statements. The Company evaluates the performance of its reportable segment based on income from operations. These financial statements and related notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.
Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]	Goodwill and Other Indefinite Lived Intangible Assets Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired in each business combination and is not amortized. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-20-35, Goodwill—Subsequent Measurement (“ASC 350”), the Company tests goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite life for potential impairment annually as of June 30 and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount, which would result in impairment. The Company has one reportable operating segment, which serves as the only reporting unit for goodwill assessment. The Company uses the income approach to complete its annual goodwill assessment. The income approach uses future cash flows and estimated terminal values for the Company’s reporting unit that are discounted using a market participant perspective to determine the fair value of the reporting unit, which is then compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit to determine if there is impairment. The income approach includes assumptions about revenue growth rates, operating margins and terminal growth rates discounted by an estimated weighted-average cost of capital derived from other publicly-traded companies that are similar but not identical from an operational and economic standpoint. The Company completed its annual assessment of goodwill as of June 30, 2015 and determined that the fair value for the Company’s reporting unit exceeded its carrying value, and, as a result, no impairment was indicated at that date. Therefore, the Company was not required to compare the fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill in order to determine the amount of a goodwill impairment. As of June 30, 2015, the excess fair value over the carrying value was 9% and represented an increase from 3% as of December 31, 2014, which was shortly after the Enova Spin-off in November 2014. A change in calculation assumptions, such as an increase in the weighted-average cost of capital, would cause the carrying value of the reporting unit to exceed its fair value as of June 30, 2015, which would have resulted in an impairment loss. If all assumptions were held constant, a one percentage point increase in the weighted average cost of capital would have decreased the estimated fair value of the reporting unit to approximately $28.9 million below the carrying value, which would have required the Company to perform additional analysis in accordance with ASC 350 to determine if an impairment existed and could have resulted in an impairment loss. As part of the goodwill assessment, the Company also considers market capitalization, which is the observable market value of the Company based on the quoted market prices of the Company’s common stock. The Company compares the market capitalization to its carrying value of equity. As of June 30, 2015, the Company’s market capitalization was observed to be lower than the carrying value of equity, although the market capitalization had increased since the Company’s goodwill assessment as of December 31, 2014, which was shortly after the Enova Spin-off in November 2014. The Company believes the observable market value at June 30, 2015 is not a reliable indicator of the Company’s fair value due to the Enova Spin-off, the continued transition of a significant number of investors due to the magnitude of the Enova Spin-off, and the disruption of the Company’s share price following that event. Management believes this disruption is temporary but acknowledges the need to monitor and re-evaluate any future discrepancies between these values and consider the implications for an impairment of goodwill in future periods. The Company is considered to be at risk for a future impairment of its goodwill in the event of a decline in general economic, market or business conditions or any significant unfavorable changes in the Company’s forecasted revenue, expenses, cash flows, weighted-average cost of capital and/or market transaction multiples. Any of these factors could represent a potential triggering event that would indicate an impairment review should be performed. The Company will continue to monitor for events and circumstances that could negatively impact the key assumptions in determining its fair value. The Company also performed its annual indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test as of June 30, 2015. The Company’s indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of trademarks, trade names and licenses and had a carrying amount of $15.0 million as of June 30, 2015. The Company elected to perform a qualitative assessment in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, and determined that no conditions existed that would make it more likely than not that the indefinite-lived intangible assets were impaired. Therefore, no further quantitative assessment was required.
Accounting Standards to be Adopted in Future Periods	Accounting Standards to be Adopted in Future Periods In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2015-05, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement (“ASU 2015-05”), which defines specific criteria that entities must apply to determine if a cloud computing arrangement includes an in-substance software license. The result of the assessment will direct the entity to apply either software licensing or service contract guidance to record the related fees. ASU 2015-05 is effective for annual periods, including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015 and can be prospectively or retrospectively applied. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2015-05 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Interest—Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs (“ASU 2015-03”), which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. ASU 2015-03 applies to all business entities and is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2015-03 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (“ASU 2015-02”), which provides guidance for reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. In accordance with ASU 2015-02, all legal entities are subject to reevaluation under the revised consolidation model. ASU 2015-02 is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2015-02 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) Section A—Summary and Amendments That Create Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and Other Assets and Deferred Costs—Contracts with Customers (Subtopic 340-40) (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC 605. ASU 2014-09 requires entities to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments and assets recognized from costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a contract. In July 2015, the FASB affirmed its proposal to defer the effective date of ASU 2014-09 by one year. For public business entities, ASU 2014-09 will now be effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted at, but not before, the original effective date, which is for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2016. Entities are permitted to apply ASU 2014-09 either retrospectively or through an alternative transition model. The Company is still assessing the potential impact of ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements.