History of "Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)"

An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine (ATM) is a computerised telecommunications device that provides a financial institution's customers a method of financial transactions in a public space without the need for a human clerk or bank teller. On most modern ATMs, the customer identifies him or herself by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smartcard with a chip, that contains his or her card number and some security information, such as an expiration date or CVC (CVV). Security is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN).

A mechanical cash dispenser, arguably an ATM, was developed and built by Luther George Simjian and installed 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance.

Thereafter, the history of ATMs paused for over 25 years, until De La Rue developed the first electronic ATM, which was installed first in Enfield Town in North London on 27 June 1967 by Barclays Bank. This instance of the invention is credited to John Shepherd-Barron, although various other engineers were awarded patents for related technologies at the time. Shepherd-Barron was awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours List. The first person to use the machine was Reg Varney of "On the Buses" fame, a British Television programme from the 1960s. The first ATMs accepted only a single-use token or voucher, which was retained by the machine. These worked on various principles including radiation and low-coercivity magnetism that was wiped by the card reader to make fraud more difficult. The idea of a PIN stored on the card was developed by the British engineer James Goodfellow in 1965.

ATMs first came into wide UK use in 1973; the IBM 2984 was designed at the request of Lloyds Bank. The 2984 CIT (Cash Issuing Terminal) was the first true Cashpoint, similar in function to today's machines; Cashpoint is still a registered trademark of Lloyd's in the U.K. All were online and issued a variable amount which was immediately deducted from the account. A small number of 2984s were supplied to a USA bank. Notable historical models of ATMs include the IBM 3624 and 473x series, Diebold 10xx and TABS 9000 series, and NCR 5xxx series.