[jnbiche]

The fingerprints are only because that's the only way to prove with a high level of confidence that the same person isn't repeatedly visiting the same ATM using different (faked) identities. This has been a big concern of the lawyers, FinCEN, and LE.

The bank doesn't have to do that because a human being can be reasonably confident that he/she isn't repeatedly serving the same person using different identities.

Also, note that the federal government has asserted that Bitcoin doesn't fall under the same laws as foreign exchanges, but rather as banks (see FinCEN's first guidance document on virtual currencies). A court could rule against this interpretation, but it's pretty unlikely.

EDIT: I should add there's a lot of grey area here as to what constitutes proper KYC procedures in this instance. I personally think a simple photograph would probably satisfy's FinCEN's concerns, but I've decided not to operate this kind of device, so it's not my own ass that's on the line. I can certainly sympathize with anyone who wants to be extra careful here since federal prosecutors and agents have been so zealous in this area.

[gnoway]

I guess it should be obvious that they fingerprint scan for each use of the terminal. This wasn't made clear in the article.