A replacement device for a conventional bill acceptor in a gaming machine, located in the same space as the bill acceptor, has a bill acceptor or voucher reader/printer, plus at least a fingerprint reader. In one preferred embodiment, the new device has a bill acceptor, fingerprint reader, magnetic strip card reader, and an LCD screen. All interface to the existing game processor board using the bill acceptor's existing serial connection, and optionally to backend systems using an ethernet connection directly from the new device.