Check ’n Go payday lending chain said Tuesday that it will close about half of its Ohio stores over the next several months.
CNG Financial said it will close 36 of its 71 stores in the state, eliminating up to 75 jobs. The company didn’t specify which sites would be shut down, but a spokesman said closures would be based on lending volume.
The Cincinnati-based company has seven Central Ohio payday lending shops.
Sixty four percent of Ohio voters cast their ballots in favor of Issue 5, which supported a law capping interest rates for payday lenders at 28 percent a year. The payday lending industry fought a $13,000,000 battle to repeal portions of the law, House Bill 545, saying the interest rate cap and other limitations would drive many of them out of the state. Payday lenders tried in vain for a rate that allowed them to charge a 391 percent APR.
Texas-based Cash America (NYSE:CSH) announced that it would shut down 43 of its 140 shops in Ohio.
Remaining Check N Go stores will offer loans permitted under the Ohio Small Loan statute, as well as check-cashing services. CNG operates more than 1,300 Check ’n Go locations in 31 states.
