Happy Birthday ATM Machine - the ATM Celebrates Its 40th Birthday

September 9 marked the 40th birthday of the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) here in the United States. By this point in time I am sure that everyone is familiar with and has used this marvel of technology which spits $20 bills at you, upon demand, at any hour of the day, on nearly every corner of every hamlet, town, and city across this country. But ATM's have not always been that popular. I am pretty sure my Grandfather went to his grave without ever using one. He did not trust them. But he did not like checking accounts either.

The very first introduction of the ATM, known as the mechanical cash dispenser was installed in the U.S. in 1939. It lasted all of 6 months before it was removed because no one every used it.

Today 85% of all global transaction for cash is made at an ATM machine. I remember a female friend of mine who was also one of the first ATM service personnel in the area where I was living at the time, tried to get me to enter that field explaining to me it was going to be an explosive market. I laughed back then saying I didn't think so, "nobody is going to use those machines when they can just go inside the bank and talk to a human teller and get the same service." At that time $5 was the amount the ATM would spit at you. And they were all located on the outside, attached to the bank's building.

Now there are 403,000 ATMs in the U.S. with another 239 ATMs being installed per day worldwide. Each ATM wholes approximately $2,800 in cash. 55% of all ATM transactions are withdrawals, 9% are balance inquires, 18% are deposits (people actually put money in those machine...gee they must be rich) and the other 18% of the transactions are other transactions. In the U.S. there is 1 ATM machine for every 761 residents. In the Antarctica there are 2 ATM machines for 0 residents. Yes, there are ATMs in Antarctica where there are no residents currently. I'm guessing the bank who installed them knows something the rest of us do not.

The largest amount of money every stolen from ATMs in one heist was $9 million dollars (I do not every remember reading that story in the newspaper, but I am certainly looking forward to the movie). 130 ATMs have been robbed with the average crime lasting approximately 30 minutes.

This last ATM fact is a hoot; 16 mcg of cocaine is found on each U.S. bill in circulation. Boy-oh-boy, what does that say about America's ATM users?

Belated Happy Birthday ATM machine.

Resource: ATMs by the Numbers - Wired Magazine - September, 2009

Tags: banking, ATM, cash machine, lifestyle, technology, ATM machine