Yes, many operators removed the satellite memory card units on the 4 & 6 slot cabs and blocked off or covered up the entry’s on the 2 slot boards. It had little to do with them not wanting players using memory cards, rather, it had to do with younger kids sticking gum and candy and all kinds of crap inside their which would often times cause damage, not just to the memory card port itself, but to the main board as well through short circuiting when the connection pins were bent and made intermittent contact.
Also, the cabs produced by SNK later on in the neo’s lifespan no longer came with the satellite memory card units, primarily as a cost cutting measure, but also because their wasn’t enough interest in the novelty of the memory card functions. So some of those later cabs had welded or pop riveted metal cover plates placed over the slit on the front panel, and it was actually done by SNK USA themselves at the production warehouse.