Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Details 3) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 30,508	$ 45,597
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(231,067)	(182,757)
Loans repaid	142,250	110,988
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	73,264	61,701
Additions to property and equipment	(8,906)	(9,581)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(12,278)	(49,279)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(47,755)	(68,928)
Financing Activities:
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	346	460
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,431)	(988)
Change in restricted cash	2,298	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	80,125	116,500
Payments on revolving line of credit	(61,852)	(93,500)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	1,159	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(3,023)	0
Net cash provided by in financing activities	15,622	22,472
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(184)	(122)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(1,809)	(981)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	48,477	23,969
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	46,668	22,988
Parent [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	1,503	(21,769)
Investing Activities:
Loans made	0	0
Loans repaid	0	0
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	0	0
Additions to property and equipment	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)
Net cash used in investing activities	(11,018)	0
Financing Activities:
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	346	460
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,431)	(988)
Change in restricted cash	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	74,000	116,500
Payments on revolving line of credit	(61,400)	(93,500)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	0
Net cash provided by in financing activities	9,515	22,472
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	0	703
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	703	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	703	703
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	12,737	57,848
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(174,357)	(154,584)
Loans repaid	107,794	89,880
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	63,985	55,885
Additions to property and equipment	(5,316)	(5,182)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(11,162)	(48,838)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	6,521
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(12,535)	(62,839)
Financing Activities:
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	0	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving line of credit	0	0
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(113)
Net cash provided by in financing activities	(113)	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	89	(4,991)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	27,686	20,860
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	27,775	15,869
Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	16,268	9,518
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(56,710)	(28,173)
Loans repaid	34,456	21,108
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	9,279	5,816
Additions to property and equipment	(3,590)	(4,399)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(1,116)	(441)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(17,681)	(6,089)
Financing Activities:
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	0	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	0	0
Change in restricted cash	2,298
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	6,125	0
Payments on revolving line of credit	(452)	0
Proceeds from bank borrowings	1,159
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(9,431)
Net cash provided by in financing activities	(301)	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(184)	(122)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(1,898)	3,307
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	20,088	3,109
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	18,190	6,416
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	0	0
Investing Activities:
Loans made	0	0
Loans repaid	0	0
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	0	0
Additions to property and equipment	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	(6,521)
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(6,521)	0
Financing Activities:
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	0	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving line of credit	0	0
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	6,521
Net cash provided by in financing activities	6,521	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	$ 0	$ 0