The ATM
Paul Volcker, ex Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, claimed once that the finance industry reached a peak when it invented the ATM.
He said: “It really helps people. It is useful.”
As in the case of many important inventions, more than one person can lay a claim to having invented the ATM. For example, in the US In the late 1930's, Luther George Simjian started building an earlier and not-so-successful version of an ATM. Importantly, he also registered a variety of related patents.
He initially came up with the idea of creating a hole-in-the-wall machine that would allow customers to make financial transactions; the idea met with a great deal of scepticism. Starting in 1939, Simjian registered 20 patents related to the device and persuaded the fledgling bank that is now Citicorp to give it a trial.
After six months, the bank reported that there was little demand.
In the UK, Scotsman John Shepherd-Barton is credited with having invented the ATM. He convinced Barclays to install its first ATM in London in 1967, but his fellow Scotsman James Goodfellow has claimed that he is the rightful creator as he was the one who came up with the idea for encrypted cards with a PIN.
According to the Smithsonian Institute , three people at a company called Docutel invented the ATM in 1968. Don Wetzel was the co-patentee and chief conceptualist of the automated teller machine, an idea he thought of while waiting in line at a Dallas bank. At the time Wetzel was the Vice President of Product Planning at Docutel, the company that developed automated baggage-handling equipment.
The other two inventors listed on the patent were Tom Barnes, the chief mechanical engineer, and George Chastain, the electrical engineer. A working prototype came about in 1969 and Docutel was issued a patent in 1973.
The first working ATM was installed in New York based Chemical Bank.
No Mid-Life Crisis for ATMs
Having been born in 1967, ATMs are not exactly old. But many new channels have emerged since than that can compete with the ATM on the main functionalities it offers. Some more modern inventions come to mind -- PC, the internet, mobile phones and smart phones.
In all cases these have grown spectacularly and could give rise to the assertion that the ATM will be rendered obsolete.
On the other hand, from mere cash withdrawals, the services available from ATMs has grown tremendously. For example: in Luxembourg: one can buy stamps at an ATM.
In South America, people can collect Spanish immigrants’ remittances through a cardless transaction service named “HalCash” . Other services such as Ukash are based on vouchers that can be bought online or off-line and permit the cardless withdrawal of funds from an ATM, too.
Also, cash remittances are available in Switzerland, a good example of how to use ATMs for the unbanked, and a complete new way of interacting with the ATM has been developed under the name ABIL ATM by BBVA in Spain.
Then there's PIN change, balance enquiry, mobile top-up, charitable donations, various kinds of bill-paying and voucher purchase services, as well as on-screen advertising, voucher advertising and even receipt roll advertising, all with the aim to increase the ATMs value to the operator and the cardholder.
Not surprisingly for one of the pioneers of single message cash withdrawal and payments, Trionis aims to put itself at the forefront of these new technologies, combining client needs with cardholder value to breathe new life into a growing worldwide ATM network.
For more information about joining the Trionis Network, or becoming an Acquiring or Issuing partner alongside the likes of Diner's Club, the Pulse Network, and UnionPay, please visit our main site - Trionis.com.
