Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)	6 Months Ended
Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)	Jun. 30, 2016
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 have been eliminated in consolidation. The financial statements presented as of June 30, 2016 and 2015 and for the six-month periods ended June 30, 2016 and 2015 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, 2015 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 ended June 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. The Company’s primary line of business is pawn lending. Pawn loans are short-term loans made on the pledge of tangible personal property. Pawn loan fees and service charges are generated from the Company’s pawn loan portfolio. In relation to its pawn lending operations, the Company also disposes of collateral from unredeemed pawn loans and liquidates 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. Consumer loans provide customers with cash, typically in exchange for an obligation to repay the amount advanced plus fees and any applicable interest. Consumer loans offered by the Company are either written by the Company or by a third-party lender through the Company’s credit services organization or credit access business programs (“CSO programs”) and include short-term loans (commonly referred to as payday loans) and installment loans. Revenue from consumer loan fees includes interest income, finance charges and fees for services provided through the CSO programs (“CSO fees”). For more information on the Company’s CSO programs, see “Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—the Company’s Business—Consumer Loan Activities.” A small component of the Company’s business includes the offering of check cashing services through franchised check cashing centers, for which the Company receives franchise fees. In addition, in some of its Company-operated lending locations, the Company offers check cashing services, as well as prepaid debit cards that are issued and serviced through a third party. The Company has one reportable operating segment, and therefore, 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, 2015.
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 completed its annual assessment of goodwill as of June 30, 2016. The Company elected to perform a qualitative assessment in accordance with ASU 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment (“ASU 2012-02”), and, based on the results of this assessment, determined that no conditions existed that would make it more likely than not that goodwill was impaired. As part of the goodwill assessment, the Company also considers certain observable quantitative factors in its assessment, such as the market value of its equity, which is the observable market value of the Company based on the quoted market prices of the Company’s common stock at the measurement date. The Company compares the market value of its equity to the carrying value of its equity. As of June 30, 2016, the market value of the Company’s equity was higher than the carrying value of equity. In addition, as part of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) entered into by the Company, First Cash Financial Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“FCFS”), and Frontier Merger Sub, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, the estimated merger consideration based on the stock price of FCFS as of June 30, 2016 was in excess of the Company’s carrying value of equity. See Note 8 for a description of the Merger Agreement with FCFS. Therefore, the Company’s goodwill is not considered to be at risk of being impaired at this time. However, a decline in general economic, market or business conditions, significant unfavorable changes in the Company’s forecasted revenue, expenses, cash flows, weighted-average cost of capital, and/or market transaction multiples, or a termination of the Merger Agreement could represent a potential triggering event that may 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 performed its annual indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test as of June 30, 2016. 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, 2016. The Company elected to perform a qualitative assessment in accordance with ASU 2012-02 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.
Adopted Accounting Standards [Policy Text Block]	Adopted Accounting Standards In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2016-09”), which simplifies several aspects related to the accounting for share-based payment transactions. Per ASU 2016-09: (1) all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement, rather than in additional paid-in capital under current guidance; (2) excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows, rather than as a separate cash inflow from financing activities and cash outflow from operating activities under current guidance; (3) cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax-withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity; and (4) an entity can make an entity-wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest, which is consistent with current guidance, or account for forfeitures when they occur. ASU 2016-09 is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted. Effective January 1, 2016, the Company elected to early adopt ASU 2016-09. The Company prospectively applied the guidance dictating that excess tax benefits be recognized on the income statement. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, the Company recognized an excess income tax benefit of $0.2 million and $0.7 million, respectively, that reduced the income tax provision and increased net income on the consolidated statements of income. The Company retrospectively applied the guidance dictating the presentation of excess tax benefits as an operating cash flow and included the $0.7 million excess income tax benefit as part of “Current and noncurrent income taxes” presented as an operating activity on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2016. For the six months ended June 30, 2015, the $0.3 million excess tax benefit presented as offsetting operating and financing activities in the consolidated cash flow statements within the quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q for the six months ended June 30, 2015 was eliminated from the presentation due to the adoption of this guidance. In addition, the Company retrospectively applied the guidance dictating that cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax-withholding purposes be classified as a financing activity, and, consistent with prior period presentation, these amounts were included as part of “Treasury shares purchased” presented as a financing activity on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015. Finally, the Company elected to account for forfeitures when they occur. In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (“ASU 2015-17”), which requires that all deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet. ASU 2015-17 eliminates the current requirement for an entity to separate deferred income tax liabilities and assets into current and noncurrent amounts on the balance sheet. ASU 2015-17 is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2016 and can be prospectively or retrospectively applied. Early adoption is permitted. The Company early adopted ASU 2015-17 on January 1, 2016 and retrospectively applied ASU 2015-17 for all periods presented. The impact of this change in accounting principle on amounts previously reported on the consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2015 was a reclassification of $20.4 million previously reported as “Current deferred tax liabilities” in the current liabilities section of the consolidated balance sheet to “Deferred tax liabilities” in the noncurrent liabilities section of the consolidated balance sheet. As of December 31, 2015, the impact of this change in accounting principle resulted in a reclassification of $7.7 million previously reported as “Current deferred tax assets” in the current assets section of the consolidated balance sheet to “Deferred tax liabilities” in the noncurrent liabilities section of the consolidated balance sheet. 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. In addition, since ASU 2015-03 does not address presentation or subsequent measurement of debt issuance costs specifically related to line-of-credit arrangements, the FASB also issued ASU 2015-15, Interest-Imputed Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Presentation and Subsequent Measurement of Debt Issuance Costs Associated with Line-of-Credit Arrangements (“ASU 2015-15”), in August 2015. ASU 2015-15 states that, for line-of-credit arrangements, entities can continue to defer and present debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortize the deferred debt costs ratably over the term of the arrangement. ASU 2015-03 and ASU 2015-15 apply to all business entities and are effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. On January 1, 2016, the Company retrospectively adopted ASU 2015-03 and ASU 2015-15. As a result, unamortized debt issuance costs related to the Company’s $300.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.75% senior notes due 2018 (the “2018 Senior Notes”) of $2.0 million, $3.1 million and $2.6 million as of June 30, 2016 and 2015 and December 31, 2015, respectively, were reclassified from “Other assets” to a deduction of “Long-term debt” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Unamortized debt issuance costs related to the Company’s $280.0 million line of credit due 2018 (the “Line of Credit”) of $1.1 million, $1.4 million and $1.4 million as of June 30, 2016 and 2015 and December 31, 2015, respectively, remain in “Other assets” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Adoption of ASU 2015-03 and ASU 2015-15 did not impact the results of operations, retained earnings or cash flows in the current or previous reporting periods. In April 2015, the 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. The Company prospectively adopted ASU 2015-02 on January 1, 2016, and the adoption did not have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations. 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. Entities are permitted to apply ASU 2015-02 either retrospectively or through a modified retrospective approach. The Company retrospectively adopted ASU 2015-02 on January 1, 2016, and the adoption did not have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations.
Accounting Standards to be Adopted in Future Periods	Accounting Standards to be Adopted in Future Periods In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires entities to measure all expected credit losses for financial instruments held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable supportable forecasts. Entities will now use forward-looking information to better form their credit loss estimates. ASU 2016-13 is effective for public entities that are Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filers for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2019. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2016-13 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-07, Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323): Simplifying the Transaction to the Equity Method of Accounting (“ASU 2016-07”), which eliminates the requirement that when an investment qualifies for the use of the equity method as a result of an increase in the level of ownership interest or degree of influence, the investor must adjust the investment, results of operations and retained earnings retrospectively as if the equity method had been in effect during all previous periods in which the investment had been held. ASU 2016-07 requires that the equity method investor add the cost of acquiring the additional interest in the investee to the current basis of the investor’s previously held interest and adopt the equity method of accounting as of the date the investment becomes qualified for equity method accounting. In addition, ASU 2016-07 requires that an entity that has an available-for-sale equity security that becomes qualified for the equity method of accounting recognize through earnings the unrealized holding gain or loss in accumulated other comprehensive income at the date the investment becomes qualified for use of the equity method. ASU 2016-07 is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2016, and should be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. Since the Company does not account for its investment in Enova common stock under the equity method of accounting, the Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2016-07 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 824) (“ASU 2016-02”), which sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both lessees and lessors. ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize the following for all leases with terms longer than 12 months: (a) a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and (b) a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. Leases with a term of 12 months or less will be accounted for similarly to existing guidance for operating leases today. In addition, ASU 2016-02 aligns lessor accounting with the lessee accounting model and 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”). ASU 2016-02 is effective for public companies for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. Entities must apply a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. The Company is still assessing the potential impact of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities (“ASU 2016-01”), which requires that equity investments, except for those accounted for under the equity method or those that result in consolidation of the investee, be measured at fair value, with subsequent changes in fair value recognized in net income. However, an entity may choose to measure equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer. ASU 2016-01 also impacts the presentation and disclosure requirements for financial instruments. ASU 2016-01 is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted only for certain provisions. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2016-01 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC 605, Revenue Recognition. 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 August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which defers the effective date of ASU 2014-09 by one year. In addition, between March 2016 and May 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net) (“ASU 2016-08”), ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”) and ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients (“ASU 2016-12”). ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10 and ASU 2016-12 clarify certain aspects of ASU 2014-09 and provide additional implementation guidance. For public business entities, ASU 2014-09, ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10 and ASU 2016-12 are 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, ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10, and ASU 2016-12 either retrospectively or through an alternative transition model. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2014-09, ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10 and ASU 2016-12 will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.