inventors
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Automatic
Teller Machines
An automatic teller machine or ATM allows a bank customer to conduct their banking transactions from almost every other ATM machine in the world. 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 (1968) 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. It took five million dollars to develop the ATM. The concept of the ATM first began in 1968, a working prototype came about in 1969 and Docutel was issued a patent in 1973. The first working ATM was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank. (note(1): There are different claims to which bank had the first ATM, here is Don Wetzel's reference:
"No, it wasn't in a lobby, it was actually in the wall of the bank, out on the street. They put a canopy over it to protect it from the rain and the weather of all sorts. Unfortunately they put the canopy too high and the rain came under it. (laughing) One time we had water in the machine and we had to do some extensive repairs. It was a walkup on the outside of the bank. That was the first one. And it was a cash dispenser only, not a full ATM... We had a cash dispenser, and then the next version was going to be the total teller (created in 1971), which is the ATM we all know today -- takes deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, savings to checking, cash advances to your credit card, takes payments; things like that. So they didn't want just a cash dispenser alone." - Don Wetzel on the first ATM installed at the Rockville Center, New York Chemical Bank from a NMAH interview.
Jack Gebhart had the idea to put the magnetic stripe on the bankcard to carry the customer information. This information could then be read by a reader, also from Jack Gerbhart, which in its turn is connected to a computer. (4)
chronology 1967 1968 1969 1973
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Last Updated on 03-Apr-2002 | For suggestions please mail the editors |
Footnotes & References
1 | text: inventors.about.com |
2 | Cash Technologies, inc. |
3 | smithsonian: picture of ATM and inventor |
4 | David Pryor provided the name of the 'missing' engineer and his contribution to the project |