Comment by Animats

Papers, please.

Some banks used to take a thumbprint when you cashed a check in person. Very few do that now. When they did it, it was more symbolic than useful, because they didn't have a useful checking system. Today, if banks took fingerprints, they'd find out more than they wanted to know, because immediate lookup is possible. It's not their job to filter the entire population for warrants and illegal aliens.

In-person identification is getting really good. Here's HIKvision's new ID unit.[1] Face recognition, iris recognition, fingerprint recognition, and RFID card recognition in one convenient iPad-sized unit. Iris recognition now works at 70cm range, so it can be used routinely. In China, there is no right to be anonymous.

Worth noting: credit card companies absorbing losses varies by country. The US is pro-consumer on credit card fraud, but not on debit card fraud. This differs by country.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I29_WWuntxs