Once upon a time there was a time when one lived without an Automated Teller Machine aka ATM. People visited banks to withdraw money every time they needed cash, but 50 years ago the way the way people used and obtained cash forever changed when the first ATM opened on June 27, 1967 at a branch of Barclays bank in Enfield, North London.
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The machine was the first of the six cash dispensers commissioned by the bank and was the brainchild of Scottish inventor Shepherd-Barron. The English actor Reg Varney, who starred in the British TV comedy show “On the Buses”, has the title of being the first person to withdraw cash from the machine.
Fast forward five decades later; there are three million ATMs across the globe with 70,000 in the UK alone. To commemorate the anniversary of the first ATM ever Barclays transformed the ATM at its Enfield branch into gold, added a commemorative plaque and placed a red carpet in front for its users.
