Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Details 3) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 94,168	$ 95,094
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(440,917)	(360,354)
Loans repaid	307,930	260,289
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	129,965	129,518
Additions to property and equipment	(23,506)	(20,842)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(12,279)	(83,057)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(49,825)	(74,446)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	6	634
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	342	1,521
Debt issuance cost	(259)	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,596)	(1,071)
Change in restricted cash	2,303	(935)
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	148,265	321,617
Payments on revolving line of credit	(194,805)	(318,227)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	1,172	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(5,170)	(1,056)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(51,742)	2,483
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	365	(426)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(7,034)	22,705
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	48,477	23,969
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	41,443	46,674
Parent [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	70,266	(12,881)
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	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)
Net cash used in investing activities	(11,018)	0
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	6	634
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	342	1,521
Debt issuance cost	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,596)	(1,071)
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	138,000	321,500
Payments on revolving line of credit	(194,000)	(309,000)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(59,248)	13,584
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (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	(11,375)	46,249
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(324,903)	(293,161)
Loans repaid	237,041	212,065
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	112,660	117,114
Additions to property and equipment	(15,955)	(12,584)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(11,162)	(51,254)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	7,754	(10,269)
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	5,435	(38,089)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	0
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	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving line of credit	0	0
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(225)	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(225)	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(6,165)	8,160
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	27,686	20,860
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	21,521	29,020
Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	35,277	61,726
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(116,014)	(67,193)
Loans repaid	70,889	48,224
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	17,305	12,404
Additions to property and equipment	(7,551)	(8,258)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(1,117)	(31,803)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(36,488)	(46,626)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	0	0
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	0	0
Debt issuance cost	(259)
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	0	0
Change in restricted cash	2,303	(935)
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	10,265	117
Payments on revolving line of credit	(805)	(9,227)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	1,172	10,269
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(12,699)	(1,056)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(23)	(832)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	365	(426)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(869)	13,842
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of quarter	20,088	3,109
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter	19,219	16,951
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	(7,754)	10,269
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(7,754)	10,269
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		0
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	0	0
Debt issuance cost	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving line of credit	0	0
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0	(10,269)
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	7,754	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	7,754	(10,269)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (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