50facts you never knew about cash machines

. . . to celebrate half a century since the first hole-in-the-wall

IT’S 50 years since Britain’s first cash machine was unveiled by Barclays in enfield, north London, on June 27, 1967.

Since then, the number of ATMs around the world has rocketed, with 70,180 in the UK alone.

here, VICTOrIA BISChOFF digs into the cash machine’s fascinating past — and reveals what the future holds for the ATM . . .

1BArCLAyS chose its branch in enfield, north London, for the world’s first cash machine in 1967 because its high windows provided enough space underneath for the safe and equipment.

2 wITh the first cash machines you had to buy a paper voucher from a bank teller in advance, and you could only get out £10 at a time. The voucher was covered with a radioactive substance called carbon14 that the machine could detect and match against a PIn.

3On The Buses sitcom star (and Barclays customer) reg Varney was the first person to use an ATM.

4There is controversy over who designed the cash machine. Scottish inventor John Shepherd-Barron was inspired by chocolate bar vending machines and created the first Barclays ATM. yet around the same time, fellow Scot, James goodfellow, designed a slightly different machine which used plastic cards punched with holes. Both men received OBes for their services to banking.

5 There is a new ATM installed somewhere in the world every three minutes.

6SOMe of the first cash machines didn’t give your card back immediately. Instead, it was either posted to you or you had to go into a branch to collect it.

7LLOydS launched the first computerised UK cash machine in Brentwood, essex, in 1972. For the first time, the money was debited from your account instantly.

8IT wASn’T until the eighties that banks started to allow customers of rival firms to use their cash machines.

9rUMOUr has it that PIns were originally going to be six digits — until inventor John Shepherd-Barron’s wife Caroline said that she could only remember four.

10ATM is an American term that stands for automated teller machine. Teller has its origins in Old english, meaning someone who counts money.

11 The word cashpoint was introduced in 1972 by Lloyds Bank, which registered it as a trademark in 1986.

12The most money withdrawn from UK cash machines in a day is £730 million on december 23, last year.

13rOUghLy three in four cash machines have no fees — 53,885 out of 70,020 at the end of last year.

14The average withdrawal in the UK is £71.

15AMerICA has ATMs that allow customers to chat with the bank staff over a real-time video link.

16CASh machines fail 5 pc of the time. The main reason, other than hardware faults, is running out of cash.

17There are three million ATMs in the world. By 2020 it is predicted there will be four million.

18POrTUgAL has the highest number of cash machines in western europe per million residents — 1,540. The UK has 1,074 and the european average is 960.

19Sweden has the fewest ATMs, with 333 per million inhabitants.

20There are two cash machines in Antarctica — both in the huge McMurdo Station science hub. They dispense U.S. dollars only.

21The world’s most northern ATM is in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, an island half-way between norway and the north Pole that is known for its views of the northern Lights.

22ATMs in the Vatican City can give you instructions in Latin.

23In IndIA you can make religious donations at ATMs installed in temples.

24The UK recorded 54 cash machine withdrawals per person in 2014 — the highest in the world.

25BArCLAyS has launched contactless ATMs where you tap your card or smartphone against the machine to get out up to £100.

26The highest ATM in the world is 16,007 ft above sea level in a remote part of Pakistan.

27CASh machines in Lapland blow out air as cash is dispensed to stop snow getting inside.

28SOMe ATMs in dubai and Abu dhabi dispense gold bars and coins.

29The first ‘drive-thru’ cash machine in the UK opened on May 22, 1998, at hatton Cross near heathrow Airport.

30In whISTLer, Canada, CIBC bank has a ‘ski-thru’ ATM on the slopes. It has a place to store your skis and gloves while you use it.

31In The nineties, some Japanese ATMs sterilised notes before dispensing them, reportedly heating them to 200c to kill bacteria.

32In 2012, Barclays became the first UK bank to launch talking cash machines for customers with sight problems. Canada had introduced them in 1997.

33SOMe people believe that if you enter your PIn backwards into the machine it will alert the police that you’re withdrawing money under duress. It’s a myth.

34BAnKS are already rolling out cash machines that no longer require a card or PIn. you log into an app on your phone, choose how much you want and are given a code to enter into the machine.

35In SPAIn, you can buy sports tickets and pay parking fines at ATMs.

36yOU can get a reward of up to £25,000 if you pass on any information that leads to the conviction of someone responsible for an attack on a cash machine.

37ATMs were deliberately designed so the card comes out before the cash to help prevent customers leaving it behind.

38LInK, the UK’s cash machine network, has a free app that shows where your nearest ATM is on a map — you can even search for machines that dispense £5 notes.

39In The U.S., you can get stamps out of ATMs.

40yOU can use cash machines to take out funeral plans in South Africa.

41On SOMe golf courses in America there are mobile ATMs that are driven around the course on buggies.

42 ATMs are increasingly used to advertise public notices such as ‘ don’t drink and drive’.

43 IN PoRTUGAL you can apply for a fishing and hunting licence on some cash machines.

44 IN SoME countries small businesses have been able to deposit cash at ATMs since 1982.

45 SoME ATMs give out change to shopkeepers. You put a till tray inside the machine and it then deposits the coins into the correct slots.

46 CASH machines in Japan and Brazil use your fingerprint or palm to verify your identity instead of a PIN. In China they use facial recognition software.

47 AN ESTIMATED 46 pc of cash machines in the UK are located in shops, compared with 27 pc at bank branches.

48 BANKS are under pressure to update cash machines in the UK because the new plastic £ 5 and forthcoming £10 notes are now deemed too slippery.

49 IN THAILAND you often have to pay to use cash machines belonging to other banks — even for balance inquiries.

50 CHINA only installed its first ATM in 1987.