2nd May 1966

Cash machine is patented

Scottish inventor James Goodfellow patented the idea of the hole-in-the-wall cash dispenser, officially called the automated teller machine, or ATM, and the accompanying Personal Identification Number – PIN – that would allow customers to use it to retrieve money.

First ATM

The first ATM in public use was installed in Enfield, London, in June 1967. The first customer, on 27 June, was television comedian Reg Varney who, reported The Mirror the following day, “put a signed voucher into a drawer in the machine, tapped out his personal code number on a keyboard, and out popped a drawer containing the money.”

The system was still limited compared to modern incarnations. It could only dispense £10 at a time, and would only dish out cash to customers of the branch at which it was installed.