About CFSA

Leadership, Integrity & Compliance

The Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) was established in 1999 to ensure consumer confidence in, and long-term success of, the payday advance industry—one of the fastest-growing financial service industries in the United States. Today, CFSA’s member companies represent more than half of the nearly 24 thousand payday advance locations nationally.

CFSA's mission is to promote legislation and regulation that protect consumers, while preserving their access to short-term credit options, and to support and encourage responsible industry practices.

CFSA works aggressively at the local, state and national levels to educate legislators and regulators about the role of payday advance in the broader financial service arena.  The majority of states have considered and enacted balanced and responsible legislation, with 34 states currently regulating payday advance services.

To help self-govern the membership and encourage responsible industry practices, CFSA introduced a set of mandatory “Best Practices” in early 2000.  To be a member of CFSA, a payday advance provider must abide by these practices.  Among the Best Practices are requirements to display fees in large type on posters in all store locations and offer customers the option of an Extended Payment Plan, at no additional charge, if they cannot repay their loan when due. CFSA’s Best Practices ensure our member companies hold themselves to a higher standard of responsible service and help our customers make better financial decisions.

Since its founding, CFSA has demonstrated its member companies’ commitment to listening to emerging concerns of consumers and policymakers and taking action to address their needs.