There was a lot more to the lay-off than the company losing their primary income model
This happened in my hometown (Chattanooga, Tennessee).
Before New York regulators cut the businesses off from the automated
clearing house system in early August, the payday conglomerate made
short-term loans over the Internet that typically became due — with interest
— on the customer’s next payday. Different U.S. states have widely divergent
laws governing the interest rates that lenders are allowed to charge, and
Brown often ran afoul of these regulations.
He has been sued in several states for making loans with interest rates well
above the legal limit, was the subject of a class-action lawsuit for sending
thousands of spam text messages and was investigated by federal authorities.
Brown was forced to stop making loans in Tennessee following a series of
Times Free Press articles in 2011 and 2012 that showed he was making loans
with an interest rate in excess of what the state allowed, and was doing so
without a license.