Its subsidiary, Rent-A-Center Franchising International Inc. (RACFI), formerly known as ColorTyme Inc., is America's first franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own stores.

[8] The rent-to-own business was started by Ernie Talley in Wichita, Kansas during the 1960s when he told customers of his store, Mr. T's Rental, that they had rented a washer and dryer for a long enough duration that they had paid for it in full and now owned it.

[9] Thomas Devlin, a former employee of Mr. T's rental, recognized the potential of renting name-brand products and partnered with W. Frank Barton and founded the Rent-A-Center brand in Wichita, Kansas in 1973.

[16][17] In August 1998, Renters Choice acquired Thorn Americas, Inc., which operated 1,474 stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia under the name "Rent-A-Center".

[25] Launched in 2006, under the brand name RAC Acceptance, Rent-A-Center, Inc. operates lease-to-own kiosks within third-party retail locations across the country.

[28] In August 2019, Rent-A-Center completed the acquisition of Merchants Preferred,[29] a nationwide provider of virtual lease-to-own services.

[30] On February 27, 2023 Rent-A-Center, Inc. changed their corporate name to Upbound Group, Inc. and consolidated several brands from their acquisition of Acima Holdings two years prior.

[3] As part of their rent-to-own business model, Rent-A-Center generally makes its items available with small initial payments and no long term obligations.

In March 2007, the corporate office moved to a new location at 5501 Headquarters Drive, Plano, Texas, in the Legacy Business Park.

The current headquarters measures three stories and includes structured parking for 400 vehicles, a fitness center, game room and lunchroom.

Since 2007, the company has contributed over $600,000 in grants to Junior Achievement and, in addition, Rent-A-Center employees volunteer annually to teach financial literacy to students in Dallas-area schools.

Since 2003, Rent-A-Center has provided monetary and product contributions totaling nearly $1.2 million to date to the North Texas Food Bank.

[42] A number of consumer protection concerns have been raised about the rent-to-own industry, including accusations of predatory lending.

In an April 2000 Federal Trade Commission study on the industry, 75% of respondents stated that they were satisfied with their rent-to-own experience, whereas 19% were dissatisfied.

The settlement also led Rent-A-Center to seek qualified women to serve on its board of directors, develop equal employment training programs, and hire a new human resources vice president to implement hiring policies that ensured equal employment opportunity for female job applicants and current employees.