1969 : First ATM
On this day in 1969, America's first automatic teller machine (ATM)
makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank
in Rockville Center, New York. ATMs went on to revolutionize the
banking industry, eliminating the need to visit a bank to conduct
basic financial transactions. By the 1980s, these money machines had
become widely popular and handled many of the functions previously
performed by human tellers, such as check deposits and money transfers
between accounts. Today, ATMs are as indispensable to most people as
cell phones and e-mail.
Several inventors worked on early versions of a cash-dispensing
machine, but Don Wetzel, an executive at Docutel, a Dallas company
that developed automated baggage-handling equipment, is generally
credited as coming up with the idea for the modern ATM. Wetzel
reportedly conceived of the concept while waiting on line at a bank.
The ATM that debuted in New York in 1969 was only able to give out
cash, but in 1971, an ATM that could handle multiple functions,
including providing customers' account balances, was introduced.
ATMs eventually expanded beyond the confines of banks and today can be
found everywhere from gas stations to convenience stores to cruise
ships. There is even an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Non-banks lease the machines (so-called "off premise" ATMs) or own
them outright.
Today there are well over 1 million ATMs around the world, with a new
one added approximately every five minutes. It's estimated that more
than 170 Americans over the age of 18 had an ATM card in 2005 and used
it six to eight times a month. Not surprisingly, ATMs get their
busiest workouts on Fridays.
In the 1990s, banks began charging fees to use ATMs, a profitable move
for them and an annoying one for consumers. Consumers were also faced
with an increase in ATM crimes and scams. Robbers preyed on people
using money machines in poorly lit or otherwise unsafe locations, and
criminals also devised ways to steal customers' PINs (personal
identification numbers), even setting up fake money machines to
capture the information. In response, city and state governments
passed legislation such as New York's ATM Safety Act in 1996, which
required banks to install such things as surveillance cameras,
reflective mirrors and locked entryways for their ATMs.
history.com/tdih.do
31 BC: The Battle of Actium
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5311
1666 : Great Fire of London begins
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5312
1945 : Japan surrenders
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7008
1945 : Vietnam independence proclaimed
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5313
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On this day in 1969, America's first automatic teller machine (ATM)
makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank
in Rockville Center, New York. ATMs went on to revolutionize the
banking industry, eliminating the need to visit a bank to conduct
basic financial transactions. By the 1980s, these money machines had
become widely popular and handled many of the functions previously
performed by human tellers, such as check deposits and money transfers
between accounts. Today, ATMs are as indispensable to most people as
cell phones and e-mail.
Several inventors worked on early versions of a cash-dispensing
machine, but Don Wetzel, an executive at Docutel, a Dallas company
that developed automated baggage-handling equipment, is generally
credited as coming up with the idea for the modern ATM. Wetzel
reportedly conceived of the concept while waiting on line at a bank.
The ATM that debuted in New York in 1969 was only able to give out
cash, but in 1971, an ATM that could handle multiple functions,
including providing customers' account balances, was introduced.
ATMs eventually expanded beyond the confines of banks and today can be
found everywhere from gas stations to convenience stores to cruise
ships. There is even an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Non-banks lease the machines (so-called "off premise" ATMs) or own
them outright.
Today there are well over 1 million ATMs around the world, with a new
one added approximately every five minutes. It's estimated that more
than 170 Americans over the age of 18 had an ATM card in 2005 and used
it six to eight times a month. Not surprisingly, ATMs get their
busiest workouts on Fridays.
In the 1990s, banks began charging fees to use ATMs, a profitable move
for them and an annoying one for consumers. Consumers were also faced
with an increase in ATM crimes and scams. Robbers preyed on people
using money machines in poorly lit or otherwise unsafe locations, and
criminals also devised ways to steal customers' PINs (personal
identification numbers), even setting up fake money machines to
capture the information. In response, city and state governments
passed legislation such as New York's ATM Safety Act in 1996, which
required banks to install such things as surveillance cameras,
reflective mirrors and locked entryways for their ATMs.
history.com/tdih.do
31 BC: The Battle of Actium
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5311
1666 : Great Fire of London begins
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5312
1945 : Japan surrenders
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7008
1945 : Vietnam independence proclaimed
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5313
##########################################
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