I remember reading them back in the early 90s (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Far and Away, Back to the Future). They don’t seem to be a thing anymore (or am I just not noticing them).
As an aside I remember liking them but I was a preteen at the time so maybe they were terrible and I just liked the movies.
I remember the Back to the Future 2 novelization had a small exchange between Marty and the server at Cafe 80s about why he wants to use physical money, instead of just swiping his thumb.
I don’t know if that was from a deleted scene from the movie, but I felt it added some more setup to the part where Doc tries to save Jennifer and tells her to hold her thumb to the pad by the door.