HOW DID IT WORK?

In the days before people’s wallets and purses were stuffed with plastic cards to make payments and withdraw cash, the process used for taking money from a cash machine was quite different to the way it works today.

According to Barclays, when the ATM was first introduced to the British high street in the late 1960s, customers still had to jump through several hoops in order to get access to their money.

With debit cards yet to be invented, customers used special vouchers, issued by a bank, which were processed in the same way as cheques and debited to individual accounts.

The customer would sign the vouchers – each worth the princely sum of £10 – and place it in a drawer attached to the ATM, where the machine authenticated its “carbon 14” strip, a slightly radioactive material.

Using an illuminated panel, the consumer would then enter a personal six-figure code; should it match the corresponding sequence on the voucher, a cash drawer would open, paying out in £1 notes.

Anyone planning a wild weekend or a shopping spree who needed more than £10 could repeat the process with additional vouchers.

Each voucher was valid for six months, and issued only to approved customers. Only they and their trusted branch manager knew their unique codes.