I don't think it's popular because not as many places will let you get a cash/check refund on a credit card transaction - in fact, many retailers (such as Wal-Mart and Target) will automatically credit the card back for which you made the purchase, once the receipt information is scanned into the system.

Why *any* merchant/organization would do this is beyond me, in fact - they're still on the hook for the merchant fee, and actually end up losing money on that transaction.

Mike