mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
On June 27, 1967, the world experienced a wonderful and dangerous thing: the first automated teller machine. Well, sort of – exactly who invented it and when the first “official” ATM was invented is a bit of a debate, especially amongst those in the industry. I bet you didn’t know there were hot-button issues in the automated teller machine industry. Read on to find out what they are!
1. The first ATM isn’t the one we’re celebrating, but an earlier, unsuccessful model. Designed by Luther George Simjian, Citibank (then “City Bank of New York”) installed the primitive prototype for a six-month trial period. It was removed, though, because the people that used it weren’t the exactly the bank’s ideal customers. Simjian later wrote, “It seems the only people using the machines were a small number of prostitutes and gamblers who didn’t want to deal with tellers face to face.” Although his ATM flopped, Simjian didn’t stop inventing: his later creations included a flight simulator for WWII, a type of postage meter and a self-posing portrait camera.
2. The second first ATM is obviously NOT the first ATM, but it’s the one that people largely consider as such because of its success. It was installed in Enfield Town, North London, by Barclay’s Bank. This version was invented (maybe) by John Shepherd-Barron, who was awarded an OBE for his trouble in 2005. We have his wife to thank for our four-digit PINs – originally they were six, but she couldn’t remember that many numbers and requested that the length be changed.
3. James Goodfellow is another claimant to the title of ATM inventor. The battle between Goodfellow and Shepherd-Barron has been going on since the ’60s and has heated up within the past few years thanks to Shepherd-Barron’s OBE. Goodfellow got one of his own for inventing the PIN. But Goodfellow says the whole kit and kaboodle was his invention:
“For him to go down in history as the inventor of the ATM really stuck in my throat,” says Goodfellow. “It is one thing for him to be awarded an OBE for services to the banking industry, but not for him to be portrayed as the inventor of the ATM. I have never bothered with this thing for 40 years, so it was a shock when it said he invented it. It’s not sour grapes. He invented a radioactive device to withdraw money. I invented an automated system with an encrypted card and a pin number, and that’s the one that is used around the world today.”
Shepherd-Barron responded, “I don’t know him, so good luck to the fellow, but it’s clear that the difference between Goodfellow and us was that we thought through the whole system concept, and that was important to the banks who bought it. His invention reminds me of the hovercraft, an elegant failure. They didn’t think through the performance specification for the hovercraft – it could work in three-feet waves, but not five feet, which is why it didn’t become the global success it could have been.”
4. And a third claimant is Texan Don Wetzel, who invented what most resembles the ATM we know today – the kind that accepts deposits and transfers money from account to account. He thought of the idea while in line at the bank on his lunch hour – he wasted a good portion of his break standing there and thought, “I bet a machine could do this a lot faster.” And if you consider that the first ATM, as some experts do, then the first ATM was installed by Chemical Bank in Long Island on September 2, 1969. They advertised the new technology by declaring, “On Sept. 2, our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again!”
5. You know those $1.50 ($2.50… $3.50…) fees you pay to use an ATM other than one that belongs to the company who issued your card? Those fees and other similar fees add up to a $4 billion industry.
6. The world’s most northerly ATM is in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway and the most southerly ATM is at McMurdo Station in Antarctica (pictured… not too exciting, is it?).
7. Depending on where you are, you might not call it an ATM. You might call it a MAC machine, a Bancomat, an “All Time Money,” a Banklink or a Drink-link (both from Ireland; the latter is slang because they are used to withdraw money for bars so often).
8. You may or may not be surprised to know that most ATMs run on Windows, although Linux is also becoming commonly used. And maybe it’s a good idea, because people are finding ways to hack into the Windows program.
9. In 2005, people flocked to an ATM in France when it was discovered that it was stocked incorrectly. As a result, the machine issued 50-euro notes when users requested 20-euro notes. But it didn’t work: the bank kept track of everyone who had withdrawn money during that particular timeframe and requested that the customers make up the difference.
10. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, for their part, regards the 1969 invention as the first ATM, as the company that made it was the first to apply for a patent. Those in the industry apparently just call it the “first modern magstripe machine.” I know, who knew was so much controversy over ATMs?
And if you ever wondered how an ATM works, here you go.
Do you call it an ATM or something else? When I lived in Philadelphia for a year, I had a part-time job at Sephora, mostly for the discount. When people would wander in and ask about the MAC machine, I had no clue what they were talking about for the longest time.
Comments (41)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
I grew up in Wilmington, DE and was accustomed to calling it a MAC machine.
posted by Curtis on 6-24-2009 at 3:22 pm
On Portugal we call them Multibanco (yep, you’ve guessed it – means Multibank) and we got them on every corner. We´re ATM addicts here.
posted by Tuga on 6-24-2009 at 3:25 pm
I started out using a MAC when I lived in PA and called it that when I moved to TN. I was the one leaving people wondering what I was talking about.
posted by Hyacinth on 6-24-2009 at 3:29 pm
Was this Quick 10 produced by the Department of Redundancy Department?
The ‘M’ in ATM stands for ‘machine’! Typing ‘ATM machine’ makes grammar nerds twitch!
posted by Mary Sue on 6-24-2009 at 3:30 pm
Back in the 80’s, my mother called it a MiniBank…
posted by Ali on 6-24-2009 at 3:31 pm
RAS Syndrome is a terrible, terrible thing.
posted by 8rustystaples on 6-24-2009 at 3:44 pm
In the Milwaukee area, the cards were called TYME – Take Your Money Everywhere. The machines, therefore, were called TYME machines.
If you think asking for a MAC machine is awkward, try asking for a TYME machine…or asking if you can use your TYME card to pay.
posted by Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran on 6-24-2009 at 3:53 pm
I (in southern WI) grew up calling them “time machines”. A specific type of ATM (or maybe it was a specific bank, I’m not sure) had the name “TYME” on it. Not until I went “up north” for college did I discover that people thought I was crazy if I asked where to find a time machine! :)
posted by Melissa on 6-24-2009 at 3:56 pm
I found out in Wisconsin earlier this year that it’s common to find a Tyme Machine (pronounced like time machine). It was a little confusing, truth be told. A friend told a story about wandering around asking people in the south for a tyme machine, and getting weird looks.
posted by Sarah on 6-24-2009 at 3:59 pm
I grew up calling them Pulse Machines and still, to this day, refer to my withdrawals as “pulsing” out money. I live in Central Texas. My husband is from East Texas and thinks I’m crazy.
posted by Renis on 6-24-2009 at 4:17 pm
I’m in Rhode Island, and always said I need to “hit up the ATM”. A colleague moved here from Philly, and got me saying “Tap MAC” instead. I guess Rhode Islanders like to take shortcuts in speech!
posted by Heather on 6-24-2009 at 4:27 pm
I’m from East TN, and I grew up calling our ATM the “Overtime Teller”. I think that was the name of it at the bank my parents used. Got me some weird looks from my friends in college.
posted by Allison on 6-24-2009 at 4:31 pm
I grew up/still live in Philly. I’ve been calling it a MAC since my first bank account at 13. Recently, though, my six-years-younger than me girlfriend explained to me that \only old people call it a MAC…its an ATM.\ I’m 33, and, evidently, an old person.
posted by thomm-thomm on 6-24-2009 at 4:37 pm
Mary Sue,
It stands for Automated Teller Machine but is known more as ANY TIME MONEY,
so, you can definitely say the word machine after it, especially if you are using the acrynoym this way. so don’t waste your time if you know what the person is talking about. it’s okay to humble yourself sometimes.
posted by Mike on 6-24-2009 at 4:44 pm
I routinely say that I need to stop at Wawa (no fees!) to “tap the mac”! And yup, I’m from South Jersey!
posted by Mavis on 6-24-2009 at 4:56 pm
Re: Redundancy –
I’ve always known ATM to stand for Automated Teller Machine – never heard of “Any Time Money”, so the phrase “ATM Machine” has always made me cringe.
Don’t get me started on “PIN Number”!
posted by John on 6-24-2009 at 5:00 pm
There’s always some fool who complains in the comments section of every article about some minor spelling or grammar mistake. What the heck? I used to proofread for a living, and I really don’t give a crap when there is a minor mistake on something I’m reading on the internet. And unless I’m getting paid to do it, I’m not going to waste my time writing to strangers about typos.
posted by gourdandsavior on 6-24-2009 at 5:14 pm
When I was younger people around here (DC Metro Area) called it the Most machine. I think Most was the name of the company, like today the back of your card says “Star” or “Pulse” on it.
posted by Candy C on 6-24-2009 at 5:34 pm
When I lived in Houston in the mid-80’s there were two competing banks. One had “pulse” machines and the other had “m-pact” (pronounced like “impact) machines. My friends and I often used the very appropriate portmanteau “impulse machine”.
posted by tiacheryl on 6-24-2009 at 6:05 pm
@Candy C:
Really? I’ve never heard that term before, and I grew up in DC. Granted, I’m only 21, so that may be the thing. It was always ATM to me.
posted by NicoNicoNico on 6-24-2009 at 6:07 pm
I still will occasionally call them “Cash Stations” because that was the brand of ATM used predominantly in Chicago when I first got an ATM card. The card was even called a Cash Station card.
posted by Tim on 6-24-2009 at 6:08 pm
Grew up in Seattle where most people call it an ATM or “cash machine”.
posted by Sean O. on 6-24-2009 at 6:20 pm
Cash machine, money machine or hole in the wall are all common here (New Zealand), along with ATM. And for the record, I for one have never heard of ‘any time money’, so while I’m sure people do think of ATM as standing for ‘any time money’, I don’t know if it’s beyond dispute that this is the ‘most common’ interpretation of the initialism.
posted by Gwan on 6-24-2009 at 7:54 pm
I used to live near Philadelphia, so I always call ATM’s “MAC machines” — and I believe it stands for “money access cetner.”
When I write down an ATM withdrawal in my check register, I always put, “MAC.”
And…back in the day when I lived near Philly…you could use any MAC from and bank– and there was NO fee!
posted by Jim on 6-24-2009 at 11:59 pm
In Belgium most people call it a MisterCash or Bancontact (both names of companies that operates most street front ATM – i.e. outdoor ATMs)
Some of the these are still running on COBOL based software (yep… that same COBOL language that is still based on puch card design… but without the punch cards).
The best part is still the French who call ATM a “Distributeur de Billet”… no acronym for froggies I guess ;0)
At least they are running on windows 3.1 or later :0)
posted by TheForestMan on 6-25-2009 at 2:13 am
The UK is a bit like New Zealand by the sound of Gwan’s comment – we often say cashpoint or cash machine (and “Hole in the Wall”, a British bank has trademarked that!), ATM is used but less frequently. I have run into some puzzled looking people in the US and other countries when asking if they could direct me to a cash point.
posted by Chris on 6-25-2009 at 2:24 am
Here in Italy, its called a Bancomat. Like a laundromat, only not like a laundromat at all.
posted by Kate on 6-25-2009 at 6:06 am
For all you trivia lovers, the actor Reg Varney, who later played Stan in the British comedy “On The Buses”, is the fellow in the picture using the first ATM in England.
posted by Sheila on 6-25-2009 at 9:03 am
In England, an ATM is a “hole in the wall” as most are built right into the walls of buildings. It always took me a minute to realize what people were talking about when saying “I need to find a hole in the wall”.
posted by Leslie on 6-25-2009 at 10:13 am
I grew up in NJ, and I remember my parents called it the MAC machine, mainly because the card was blue and had “MAC” in big white letters on it. But by the time I got my own ATM card, it just had the name of my bank on it, so I just called it the ATM.
posted by Jim on 6-25-2009 at 10:49 am
My husband calls it a green machine-he is from northeast Ohio
posted by lm on 6-25-2009 at 11:58 am
My dad calls it a Tilly Teller. I think back when they hit our city they had some sort of robot like spokesperson named Tilly and it evolved from there. But the still says it and people, even in the family, have no idea what he means
Recaptcha: lawful gossip
posted by Mandy on 6-25-2009 at 12:36 pm
Ha! “Green Machine”…that’s a blast from the past for me! I think most of the Northeast Ohioans either say ATM or “bank machine”.
In my family, “ATM” stands for “Ask The Mom”. Meaning when low on fundage you “Ask The Mom” for money. This works on mom’s and grandmom’s too.
posted by Jamie on 6-25-2009 at 1:34 pm
pulse machine/pulse card in houston, tx – i graduated from high school in ‘85, if that helps establish a time line.
posted by casual_observer on 6-25-2009 at 2:15 pm
I live in IL, in our area it’s ATM. I started working in Milwaukee almost 3 years ago, the first time one of my co-workers said she needed to go to the Tyme machine I was really confused!!
posted by Kelly on 6-25-2009 at 2:22 pm
I’m a Wilmington, DE girl, and 28. I still call it a MAC machine. So, Thomm, you aren’t old! Yay for Wawa and no fees! I will go out of my way to find a Wawa for cash.
posted by Shannon O'Connell on 6-25-2009 at 3:15 pm
ATM, here in tropical Southern Minnesota; I sometimes also refer to it as ‘Mr. Money’ after a funny short that I saw on HBO or Showtime *many* years ago.
posted by Mama9cats on 6-25-2009 at 4:09 pm
I grew up in Oklahoma, but didn’t start using ATMs until I went to college in PA. So, I called them MAC machines for years (4 years in college, 7 years in Pittsburgh) until moving to Maryland. Took me a few years to get used to saying ATM, and now I live in NZ!
posted by Logan on 6-26-2009 at 6:03 am
On the Tyme machine thing, one guy at work was telling me about when he went to California and was looking for an ATM. Some guy approached him and so he asked him, “Excuse me, do you know where I can find a Tyme machine?”
And the guy stared at him and told him, “Man, I was going to mug you…but you crazy!” and he wandered away.
posted by Hypatia on 7-2-2009 at 1:04 pm
I couldn’t remember what my parents called it when I was younger until I read through these comments. We had Pulse machines everywhere in North Texas.
posted by Tru on 7-5-2009 at 4:26 pm
I work at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and the Finance people that work in the winter used to iron the money (20’s only) so that it wouldn’t stick in the machine due to the low humidity…plus the fact that there is only a “set” amount of money that is given to McMurdo by the office in Denver so it must go through the process of going through the store and/or bars/ATM many times before the bills can be “retired”. One ATM is always “down” so that it can be serviced/refilled while the other is operating. A ATM maintenance person comes down every summer from Wells Fargo to maintain the equipment. Lastly, there really is a camera located across the hall, focused on the ATMs…for security reasons.
posted by Tom Hamann on 7-5-2009 at 5:03 pm