Automated Teller Machine
Introduction
Banking activities have been known to exist for many decades now .Most prefer to store their money in banks for various reasons such as security, gaining of interests, accessing loans and convenient payment of salaries among other benefits, However, during the earlier years of banking, customers had to queue for long hours in order to access teller services. There was so much time wastage and loss of money among bank customers before the invention of Automated Teller Machines. This paper focuses on the invention of ATMs in the banking industry, as an initiative to solve the issues that surrounded queuing for banking services (Baker, 2005).
The invention process
The idea of ATM was developed by several inventors. This led to the complexity that characterizes the machine. The machine was made as a result of pooled invention ideas. During the early days of the ATM inventions, there were ATMs that were specific to dispensing cash while others were for dispensing cash only. In today’s era, the ATMs have been upgraded and they can perform most of the duties that a human banking teller can do hence facilitating the aspect of self-service in the banking industry (Jamil, & Khan, 2016).
Historical documentations state that ATM s was invented by Luther Simjian, an American who was also a businessman. He was also known for holding several patents for various items such as an exercise bicycle, an X-ray colour machine, teleprompter and an army flight simulator. However, he was better known for his ATM invention. Currently, most remote areas can access ATM services. Simjian sold some of his ATMs to a bank in New York in 1960.
The machines had microfilm cameras. This built trust in customers as they were convinced that they would access their money again. The camera kept snapshots for all customer deposits that were made. A copy of the snapshots acted as banking receipts for customers. At that time, the machines were known as bankographs. They had limited usage as only gamblers and prostitutes used it when they did not want to be recognised by tellers. At that time Simjian faced difficulties in making the bankographs a worthwhile investment as there were no partners to assist him in his new venture.
However, during the late 1960s, the use automated banking began to gain popularity (Hayward, 2013). In 1967 another inventor of Scottish origin, John Shepherd-Barron came up with an idea of developing a machine that could dispense cash in a similar manner as a chocolate dispenser. He sold his idea to Barclays bank. His machine used paper vouchers instead of plastic cards. The machine could dispense 10 pounds at a time. In 1969, another inventor, Donald Wetzel installed the first machine for automated banking in US. By 1970, most banks in the US were using ATMs.
The invention of ATMs revolutionized the banking services in most banks in the United Stated and across other parts of the world. The idea of ATMs, paved way for other similar inventions such as machines that sell medicine and tickets. Today, ATMs has made the handling of money easier and more secure. It is easier to withdraw small amounts of money through ATMs than putting lump sums of money at home. Since it was invented, it has changed in that the machines can perform both money withdrawal and deposit services unlike the earlier ones that were customized for only one of the functions. The latest version is far better than the original one in that it can produce a paper transaction receipt upon automated request as compared to the original where a receipt was merely a snapshot of customers depositing money (Ameh, Olanyi, & Adewale, 2016).
This invention has changed my life in several ways. For instance, I have confidence about my money when it is in the bank. I can choose to use an ATM to withdraw any amount I want to use my ATM card. This has been more useful when I travel to new places that lack a banking structure where I can do transactions for various purposes. ATMs are located in almost every area so in-case I do not have enough pocket cash, I can access some from my bank (Islam, Kumar & Biswas, 2007).
I also use my ATM card to access services such as fuel refilling at a gas station by just swiping the card. ATMs are absolutely of great value in the current technological era.If there would be no ATMs I would have to queue for long time periods waiting to access teller services. Sometimes maybe I would be required to wait for the services for days or weeks due to the magnitude of todays population that seek banking services (Zhu, Wymer & Chen, 2002).
I would occasionally be stranded whenever I travel to a new place and run out cash to access essential services. I chose ATM machine invention because currently, the machines are the core facilitators of banking personnel and industry. Through the machines, the banks can serve a large population, hence earn more revenue for the running of the institutions. Financial issues catch a large proportion of my interest; therefore, this led me to select a major invention in the financial sector.
Conclusion
It is evident that the advent of ATMs has changed the financial world significantly in terms of time saving, security and convenience. Therefore, every banking customer should posses an ATM card to enjoy the worthwhile banking benefits.
References
Ameh, A. I., Olanyi, O. M., & Adewale, O. S. (2016). Securing Cardless Automated Teller Machine Transactions Using Bimodal Authentication System. Journal of Applied Security Research, 11(4), 469-488.
Baker, D. I. (2005). Automated teller machines. Network Access, Regulation and Antitrust, 171.
Islam, R., Kumar, S., & Biswas, P. K. (2007). Customer satisfaction of ATM service: a case study of HSBC ATM. Available at SSRN 990242.
Jamil, S. A., & Khan, K. (2016). A study of customer satisfaction on select service dimensions with reference to ATMs and CDMs services in Oman. The Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 106.
Hayward, M. (2013). Atms, teleprompters And photobooths: A short history of neoliberAl optics. New Formations, 80(1), 194-208.
Zhu, F. X., Wymer, W., & Chen, I. (2002). IT-based services and service quality in consumer banking. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 13(1), 69-90.