EZ Money Loan Services Lawsuit: CFPB’s $10M Order and Closures

The EZ Money loan services lawsuit was a December 2015 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement action against EZCORP, Inc., the Austin-based parent of EZMONEY Payday Loans, EZ Loan Services, EZ Payday Advance, and EZPAWN Payday Loans. The CFPB ordered the company to refund $7.5 million to about 93,000 borrowers, pay a $3 million civil penalty, and forgive every remaining payday and installment loan debt owed by roughly 130,000 consumers.¹

What the CFPB Found EZ Money Did Wrong

The Bureau filed its administrative proceeding on December 16, 2015, and concluded that EZCORP and its subsidiaries Texas EZPAWN, L.P. and Texas EZMONEY, L.P. had violated both the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.²

In-Person Collection Visits

EZ Money employees showed up at borrowers’ homes and workplaces to demand payment, even when they had other ways to reach the consumer and even when they had been told workplace visits were not allowed. Those visits routinely exposed the debt to supervisors, coworkers, and family members. Collectors also called personal references, landlords, and employers repeatedly to pressure borrowers, and kept calling people at work after being told their employers prohibited such calls.²

False Threats and Deceptive Statements

Collectors threatened borrowers with lawsuits the company had no intention of filing. They told borrowers the only way to stop electronic withdrawals or collection calls was to pay or agree to a payment plan, which was not true. Loan documents said electronic withdrawals would occur at set times, but the company often pulled the money hours earlier, sometimes between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., triggering unexpected overdraft fees. EZ Money also misled borrowers into thinking they could not repay installment loans early without a penalty and advertised that it would not run credit checks when it routinely did.²

ACH Splits

Until early 2013, when an automatic withdrawal failed for insufficient funds, EZ Money would initiate three simultaneous withdrawal attempts on the borrower’s next payday: one for 50 percent of the total, one for 30 percent, and one for 20 percent. Each failed attempt could trigger a separate bank fee. Tens of thousands of consumers were hit with overdraft and insufficient-funds charges as a result.²

Mandatory Electronic Repayment

The company required borrowers to agree to repay through preauthorized electronic fund transfers as a condition of getting the loan. Federal law prohibits lenders from making automatic electronic repayment a requirement for credit.²

What the Settlement Required

$7.5 million in restitution to about 93,000 consumers, including full refunds of payments made within 90 days of an in-person collection visit and $34 for each failed electronic transfer caused by the ACH splits.
A $3 million civil penalty paid into the CFPB’s civil penalty fund.
An order to stop collecting on all remaining payday and installment loan debts owed by roughly 130,000 borrowers. EZCORP disclosed that this debt had already been written off.
A permanent ban on collecting debts through home or workplace visits, on contacting third parties for collection purposes (with limited exceptions), and on conditioning credit on preauthorized electronic transfers.

EZCORP recorded a $10.5 million charge in its financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, covering both the penalty and the restitution fund.³ The CFPB’s enforcement page now lists the action’s status as “Expired/Terminated/Dismissed.”¹

Why EZ Money Storefronts Closed

EZCORP’s exit from payday lending began before the consent order was signed. In July 2015 the company announced it would shut down its entire U.S. Financial Services division and close 480 payday, installment, and auto title loan locations nationwide. In San Antonio alone, roughly 30 EZMoney and EZPawn storefronts closed.⁴

Executive Chairman Stuart Grimshaw pointed to tightening regulation, competition, and what he called “key capability deficiencies” in the lending business. “We would have to invest heavily to re-establish capability in this business,” Grimshaw said on a July 2015 conference call. “The close option was the only optimal option.”⁴⁵²

If Someone Contacts You About an Old EZ Money Debt

EZ Money as a lender no longer exists, and the underlying debts were forgiven under the consent order. EZCORP itself has publicly stated that it and its U.S.-branded companies “do not collect on any debt,” and has told consumers that anyone claiming to collect a debt on the company’s behalf is likely running a scam.⁶

Scammers have picked up the leftover brand names. In December 2025 the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation warned that entities calling themselves “CCG & Associates” and “EZ Loan” were falsely claiming to be licensed debt collectors. Neither was licensed by the state, and neither had any tie to a legitimate company.⁷

Common warning signs of a phony collector include threats of arrest or lawsuits, demands for immediate payment by gift card or wire transfer, and refusal to send written verification of the debt. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a real collector has to send a written statement of the debt within five days of first contact, and you have the right to dispute the debt in writing within 30 days.⁸ Suspected scams can be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, or to your state consumer protection agency.⁹

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Enforcement Action Against EZCORP
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. EZCORP Consent Order
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EZCORP CFPB Settlement Press Release
4
San Antonio Express-News. Payday Lenders Checking Out of San Antonio
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EZCORP 10-K, Fiscal Year 2015
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Better Business Bureau. EZCORP BBB Complaint Responses
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California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. CCG Associates and EZ Loan Falsely Posing as Licensed Debt Collection Entities
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Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Phony Debt Collection Scams
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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Debt Collection Fraud