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15:17, 28-Jun-2017
World's first ATM turns gold on 50th birthday
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Five decades since it heralded a transformation in the way people obtained and used cash, the world's first ATM was turned into gold to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.
The brainchild of Scottish inventor Shepherd-Barron, the first ATM (automated teller machine) came into service on June 27, 1967 at a branch of Barclays bank in Enfield, north London -- the first of six cash dispensers commissioned by the bank.
Barclays transformed the ATM at its Enfield branch into gold, and placed a red carpet in front for its users. /Reuters Photo
Barclays transformed the ATM at its Enfield branch into gold, and placed a red carpet in front for its users. /Reuters Photo
English actor Reg Varney, who starred in the British TV comedy show "On the Buses," was the first person to withdraw cash from the new machine.
At present, there are an estimated three million cash machines across the globe, with some 70,000 cash machines in the UK alone which dispensed 175 billion pounds in 2016. The world's northernmost machine is at Longyearbyen, Norway, and the most southerly is located at the McMurdo station at the South Pole.
On September 5, 1968, the director of the Capital National Bank of Miami, Theodore Davis, installed an automatic cash machine in the lobby of his bank. /AP Photo
On September 5, 1968, the director of the Capital National Bank of Miami, Theodore Davis, installed an automatic cash machine in the lobby of his bank. /AP Photo
To commemorate the anniversary, Barclays transformed the ATM at its Enfield branch into gold, added a commemorative plaque and placed a red carpet in front for its users.
(Source: Reuters)
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