<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by nako:
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. Both Wal-mart and Target also will not give you cash back if you buy gift cards w/ various amounts of money- it stays on the card's account untill zero or you fork over the difference in cash or credit; no buying a $100 gift card w/ your mileage ccard and using it to buy a $10 dollar item expecting to get $90 back.
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</font>