ATM Turns 40

01100111 writes "The world's first ATM was installed in a branch of Barclays in Enfield, north London, 40 years ago this week. Inspiration had struck Mr Shepherd-Barron, now 82, while he was in the bath. The machine paid out a maximum of £10 a time." It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash.""

Comments

Wrong - Not the "first" ATM.

[EveryNickIsTaken]

From Wikipedia: A mechanical cash dispenser 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.

Re:Wrong - Not the "first" ATM.

[LordBafford]

Yes, the first ATM was invented during medieval times, when they had a midget in a box dispensing gold coins when presented with a certificate of ownership. This was short lived due the midgets dieing frequently and some just being carried off in their boxes and robbed.

And it just goes to prove

[Rik Sweeney]

That everyone does their best thinking when they're in the bath.

Or on the can.

Re:And it just goes to prove

[MyLongNickName]

Which is why I go to the can in the shower. Double the inspiration power. Of course, the wife doesn't like the brown streaks in the tub, but you can't please everyone.

Sexual Reference.

[richy freeway]

I would have thought people had been ATM'ing for hundreds of years...

Real Innovation

[Ajehals]

Plastic cards had not been invented, so Mr Shepherd-Barron's machine used cheques that were impregnated with carbon 14, a mildly radioactive substance.... "I later worked out you would have to eat 136,000 such cheques for it to have any effect on you." Interestingly, this was arguably one of those inventions that is, in retrospect unbelievably obvious, it really has changed the world. It leads me to wonder what Mr Shepherd-Barron was paid for his idea, and if any attempts were made to limit the implementation of this innovative machine to a single company...

Re:Real Innovation

[Anonymous Coward]

He was actually paid a lot of money, (but sadly he could only withdraw 10 pounds at a time).

Asynchronous Transfer Mode?

[niceone]

I should get out more.

Alternately ;)

[Moraelin]

A man is only as old as the woman he feels ;)

UK not part of World

[hoojus]

...anywhere in the world or the UK Wow I always though the english were a bit different :)

Not quite the same as today's ATMs.

[MROD]

It should be noted that the ATM of that era wasn't quite what we have today.

Instead of having a card with a magnetic stripe which you would get back after the transaction it was a small, plastic coated punched card which would be swallowed by the machine and then sent back to the account holder afterwards. In other words, it was an emergency "I need £10 of cash" card.

I remember my Dad having one of these from the National Westminster Bank circa 1972. ATMs didn't really take off until the magnetic stripe cards came out in the late '70s/ early '80s.

Re:Not quite the same as today's ATMs.

[butlerdi]

I do not remember those cards, and I had one of the first accounts offered by Barclays. I do remember that you could go to multiple branches and get a few quid from each as they did not update in real time. A real help for poor students, until the bank manager caught up with you a few days later...

Cute story...

[rsmoody]

My aunt and Mother were both working at a bank in Houston, TX that got the first ATM in the city (or so the story goes). One was inside the bank working on the internals of the ATM, and the other outside. As the wall was relatively thin, they could talk to each other and work on the problem. Well, after they got done, a customer arrived to use the new and fancy gadget. He began speaking to the ATM and telling it what amount of money he wanted. Always found that story to be funny.

Now wait a minute

[Deadstick]

If you visit the island fortress/abbey of Mont Saint-Michel off the coast of France, one of the first things you see inside the gate is a stone wall built circa 1000 CE with an ATM set into it. So they've obviously been around since William the Conqueror...;-)

rj

Good reason not to cite Wikipedia as your source!

[williamhb]

From Wikipedia: A mechanical cash dispenser 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

A good example of why not to cite Wikipedia as your source -- I followed your link when I read your comment (1830BST 25June2007), and there was no sign of Simjian or the Bank of New York on the page. But the page did list the invention by John Shepherd-Barron, which is the one you are disputing! I suspect many other readers had a similar experience. So either you were making mischief, in which case you've been found out, or it's changed since you cited in, in which case that'll teach you not to cite a publically editable source!