Long-term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations - Recourse to EZCORP (Details) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 02, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) day $ / shares $ / share shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Amortization of deferred financing costs			$ 833,000	$ 1,633,000
2.125% Cash convertible senior notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior notes issued and settled	$ 30,000,000.0	$ 200,000,000.0
Stated interest rate		2.125%
Option to purchase additional principal		$ 30,000,000.0
Deferred financing costs		8,800,000
Repurchase price, percent of principal amount			100.00%
Interest expense			$ 3,700,000	3,600,000
Contractual interest expense			1,200,000	$ 1,300,000
Debt discount amortization			2,300,000
Amortization of deferred financing costs			$ 2,500,000
Effective interest rate			7.00%
Remaining unamortized issuance discount period			3 years
Common Stock Class A Non-voting | 2.125% Cash convertible senior notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Conversion rate per $1000 principal amount			62.2471
Conversion price, per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 16.065
Trading day observation period			80 days
Threshold trading days (whether or not consecutive) | day			20
Threshold consecutive trading days			30 days
Threshold percentage of stock price trigger			130.00%
Early conversion condition, business day period			5 days
Measurement period			5 days
Early conversion condition, percent of product of the last reported sale price of stock and the conversion rate, less than 98%			98.00%
If-Converted Scenario | 2.125% Cash convertible senior notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense			$ 39,900,000
Unamortized debt discount			33,900,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs			6,000,000
Cash Convertible Notes Hedges
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Cost of hedge			46,500,000
Cost of hedge, net of total proceeds from Warrants sold			$ 21,300,000
Cash Convertible Notes Hedges | Common Stock Class A Non-voting
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notional amount (in shares) | shares			14.3
Strike price (dollars per share) | $ / share			16.065
Net-share-settled Warrants | Common Stock Class A Non-voting
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of securities called | shares			14.3
Strike price for warrants (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 20.83
Net proceeds from sale of warrants			$ 25,100,000
Warrants outstanding (in shares) | shares			14.3
Long-term debt, less current maturities | Cash Convertible Notes Embedded Derivative
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fair value, derivative liability		$ 46,500,000
Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 | 2.125% Cash convertible senior notes due 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Effective interest rate			8.00%