Golden cash machine marks ATM’s 50’th birthday

LONDON: The automated teller machine (ATM) marked its 50th anniversary on Tuesday, with a British bank decorating the site of the world´s first cashpoint in gold to mark the occasion.

The first ATM was unveiled by Barclays at their Enfield branch in north London on June 27, 1967. "The invention of the ATM was a historical moment that completely changed the way the world thought about and used cash," Barclays said.

The original cash machine was the brainchild of John Shepherd-Barron, who was commissioned by the bank to create six cash dispensers. They were based on vending machines.

Customers could access their money outside of banking hours -- a mini-revolution on the high street. The first person to use the inaugural ATM was actor Reg Varney, the star of a popular British TV comedy called "On The Buses", brought in to show how easy it was to use. The Barclays cashpoint in Enfield has been given a gold makeover, and a roped-off red carpet approach to celebrate the anniversary.

A black-and-white picture of Varney using the ATM stands above it, while a commemorative gold plaque has been placed on the bank wall. There now are an estimated three million plus cash machines on the planet. The world´s most southerly ATM is at the McMurdo Station research base on Antarctica, while the highest is at 4,693 metres (15,396 feet) in Pakistan´s Khunjerab Pass near the Chinese border.