Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Details 3) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 99,415	$ 109,692
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(682,184)	(571,683)
Loans repaid	451,182	382,854
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	181,461	179,681
Additions to property and equipment	(33,351)	(33,193)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(14,940)	(125,249)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0	0
Advances to subsidiaries	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(108,850)	(167,590)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	45	647
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	321	1,582
Debt issuance cost	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,596)	(1,153)
Change in restricted cash	96	(1,085)
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	403,131	594,809
Payments on revolving line of credit	(385,964)	(502,575)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	21,637	343
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(28,001)	(8,164)
Net cash provided by used in financing activities	7,669	84,404
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(756)	299
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(2,522)	26,805
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	48,477	23,969
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	45,955	50,774
Parent [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	21,748	(97,573)
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
Advances to subsidiaries	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	(11,018)
Net cash used in investing activities	(11,018)	0
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	45	647
Excess tax benefit from stock compensation	321	1,582
Debt issuance cost	0
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(3,596)	(1,153)
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	377,300	590,700
Payments on revolving line of credit	(384,800)	(493,500)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	0	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	0	0
Net cash provided by used in financing activities	(10,730)	98,276
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 period	703	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	703	703
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	15,497	98,558
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(499,101)	(461,023)
Loans repaid	338,112	304,029
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	156,648	159,913
Additions to property and equipment	(22,064)	(21,427)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(11,161)	(62,504)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	22,220	(9,664)
Advances to subsidiaries	(16,293)
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(31,639)	(90,676)
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	0
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(300)	(68)
Net cash provided by used in financing activities	(300)	(68)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(16,442)	7,814
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	27,686	20,860
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	11,244	28,674
Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	62,170	108,707
Investing Activities:
Loans made	(183,083)	(110,660)
Loans repaid	113,070	78,825
Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral	24,813	19,768
Additions to property and equipment	(11,287)	(11,766)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(3,779)	(62,745)
Proceeds on advances to subsidiaries	0	0
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(60,266)	(86,578)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	0	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	96	(1,085)
Proceeds from revolving line of credit	25,831	4,109
Payments on revolving line of credit	(1,164)	(9,075)
Proceeds from bank borrowings	37,930	10,007
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	(49,921)	(8,096)
Net cash provided by used in financing activities	12,772	(4,140)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(756)	299
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	13,920	18,288
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	20,088	3,109
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	34,008	21,397
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	(22,220)	9,664
Advances to subsidiaries	16,293
Investments in unconsolidated affiliates	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(5,927)	9,664
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	(16,293)	(9,664)
Payments on bank borrowings and capital lease obligations	22,220	0
Net cash provided by used in financing activities	5,927	(9,664)
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 period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 0	$ 0