Cash America International Inc. & The Allstate Corporation

Pawn shop operator and short-term lender Cash America International Inc. said that the recent passage of state Issue 5 has prompted the company to plan for a shutdown of about a third of its payday lending shops in Ohio. The Fort Worth, Texas-based Cash America International said it will close 43 Cashland shops in the coming months. The decision comes a day after 64 percent of Ohio voters cast their ballots in favor of Issue 5, which supports a law that caps interest rates payday lenders can charge customers on short-term loans at 28 percent a year. The payday lending industry fought a high-profile battle to repeal portions of House Bill 545, saying the interest rate cap and other limitations would drive many of them out of the state. Payday lenders had hoped to return to a rate structure that allowed them to charge an annualized 391 percent. Cash America's plans to close the 43 shops , it runs about 140 in the state, including more than a dozen in Greater Cincinnati , will cost 150 jobs, the company said.

Allstate Insurance Co. will let go 159 people in Hudson as the company reorganizes its claims center operations. The company announced its plans last year, saying it was changing its regional claims offices to "express" centers. The Illinois-based insurance giant said employees can settle customer claims immediately at the new centers instead of turning them over to big claims operations. One of the company's new express centers is on the same Hudson campus as the one that is closing.