GameStop is pushing its credit card with 'preapproved' email offers and in-store associates

Maybe you want to buy a brand new PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, but you don’t quite have $400 plus tax. Well, you could always charge it.

Earlier this year, GameStop introduced its latest product, the PowerUp Reward Credit Card. This piece of plastic enables customers at the gaming retailer to purchase goods using credit that comes with a pretty astronomical interest rate of 26.99 percent. Since debuting the card, GameStop hasn’t said much about it, but that’s starting to change. As we enter the holiday shopping season, GameStop looks like it might get more aggressive with offering its credit card to customers.

Here’s an email that some members of Gamestop’s PowerUp Rewards loyalty program might start seeing in their inboxes:

Preapproved means that they’ve already looked at some of your information and decided that you will probably pay your bills on time. If you accept, you’d likely go through a streamlined process to get your new charge card.

Of course, email isn’t the only way that GameStop is trying to get new credit customers. The retailer is also using its in-store associates to inform people about the credit offer.

I called up a GameStop and talked to an associate about it. He told me that he tries to get people to sign up for the card on a case-by-case basis. When someone wants a new system, he tells them all about the PowerUp Rewards Credit Card in a manner similar to how he would inform customers about upcoming games they can preorder.

With more than 6,600 GameStop stores around the world, the corporation has a ton of potential to do face-to-face marketing for its credit product.

Of course, maybe a GameStop credit card with a 27 percent APR is something that sounds appealing to you. If you use it wisely, it isn’t necessarily a terrible deal. For example, if you make a purchase of more than $500 — to get that new PS4 and some games — you can pay that back over six months without accruing interest. You also get PowerUp Reward points that you can exchange for special items from GameStop’s rewards catalog.

Regardless, GameStop is clearly looking to make this holiday the big coming out party for its credit card, and you’ll probably hear about it the next time you visit one of its brick-and-mortar locations to make a big purchase.