On March 18th, when Attorney General Dustin McDaniel ordered 156 payday lending stores to cease operations, a total of 237 licensed payday lenders were operating in Arkansas. Thirty Arkansas stores operated by Advance America , which bills itself as the nation's largest payday lender; One store , Cash Today in Jonesboro , owned by Jim Mead , a past president of the Arkansas Financial Services Association, the state payday lender trade association; and Three stores , First Option Cash Advance , owned by John Caldwell , in Hope, Hot Springs and Magnolia . Four stores owned by Jay Breslau-Quick Cash of Arkansas stores in Harrison, Huntsville, Ozark an d Springdale . Two stores owned by Kelly Breslau - Conway Quick Cash and Russellville Quick Cash . Read More