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ATM Cash Machine Inventor John Shepherd-Barron Dies Aged 84

The inventor of the very first ATM ‘hole-in-the-wall’ cash machine, John Shepherd-Barron, died in an Inverness hospital last Saturday, at the age of 84.

After arriving late to the bank one day in 1965 and finding it closed, Mr. Shepherd-Barron was motivated to try and come up with a convenient solution for withdrawing money at any time. Inspiration was reportedly drawn from snack/chocolate vending machines, and following a chance discussion with the head of Barclays Bank in 1967, the first ATM was born. The machine was located at a branch in Enfield, London.

The first ATMs were slightly different to those we are familiar with now; they operated using special cheques matched against a PIN number, rather than with the plastic cash cards they have since evolved to accept.

John Shepherd-Barron neither patented nor made any money from his invention; however, he was made an OBE in 2005 for his services to banking and recognised with a lifetime achievement award from the ATM Industry Association.

Posted in: Vending History, Vending Machine News
Tags: atm, cash machine, vending news