A Salt Lake City call center will close March 31 and 162 employees will lose their jobs in a cost-cutting move confirmed Saturday by CompuCredit, an Atlanta-based financial services company.

Employees at the call center, 5215 Wiley Post Way, learned of the closure Thursday, CompuCredit spokesman Tom Donahue said.

Each has been offered a severance package based on years of service. The company also will offer help finding other jobs, he said.

Donahue declined to provide an average wage for the displaced workers, who primarily make credit collection calls. He did not know whether the company owns its Salt Lake center or operates in leased space.

The closure decision, which also extends to CompuCredit call centers in Wilkesboro, N.C., and Duluth and Sandy Springs, Ga., is the result of an economic climate that continues to be challenging, he said.

"It was based on business demand more than anything else," Donahue said. "We don't have the level of activity to sustain all our offices."

CompuCredit provides credit cards and car loans to consumers who can't get financing through traditional lenders. The company's problems have included allegations of deceptive marketing practices that led to a $116 million settlement with federal regulators in December 2008, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

Under the settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Trade Commission,

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CompuCredit agreed to credit certain customer accounts opened between 2001 and 2005 with $114 million, the newspaper reported. The company also agreed to pay a $2.4 million penalty to the U.S. Treasury.

A total of 740 employees will be affected by the four centers' closure. CompuCredit will continue to operate centers in Las Vegas; Lake Mary, Fla.; and St. Cloud, Minn.