NORTH LONDON, U.K.–Looking to expand your post-pandemic social network? Then consider the newly formed “ATM Appreciation Society,” which has been formed by James Shepherd-Barron, the son of the ATM’s inventor.
According to Shepherd-Barron, the organization “exists solely to celebrate the awesomeness of cash machines and highlight its (sic) contribution to society, including in alleviating poverty and reducing disaster risk.”
The website created by the ATM Appreciation Society, is clearly tongue in cheek, with text noting it is the home of “all the fun (and sometimes serious) stuff about the world’s original fintech, the automated teller (cash) machine. The site includes a list of all types of ATMs, such as the “most extreme,” such as the highest, foggiest, tastiest, most totalitarian, fattest and first, among others. It also includes a “manifesto” that asks members to “Look up, lean in, not take the ATM for granted, and remind themselves that a cashless society is no society at all.”
The first ATM, a semi-automated cash dispenser, was introduced on June 27, 1967 by Barclays Bank at its North London Branch in Enfield.
Numbers Still Growing
“Fifty-four years later, this humble machine can now be found at over 3.2 million locations around the world, with many having transformed into sophisticated deposit-taking, cash recycling, currency converting, video-linked financial services hubs capable of replacing bank branches,” the organization said.
It added that despite recent closures, the overall number of ATMs is growing.
“Some of these ATMs are pretty extreme,” said Shepherd-Barron. “Did you know that the world’s smallest ATM is on a Bagel stall in New York City? Or that the world’s wettest is in County Cork, Ireland, and that floating ATMs are used in flood relief operations in Pakistan? Did you know that ATMs contain up to 32 sensors, some of which are capable of monitoring behavioral biometrics to the point that kidnapping and human trafficking can be thwarted? Or that they can monitor the spread of communicable diseases such as Covid-19?”
Birthday Party Planned
“Half of the adult world is forced to rely on cash,” Shepherd-Barron continued. “To many of them, the ATM is not a luxury; it is indispensable. Yet, at the same time, it is so under-appreciated. We walk past them every day but don’t stop to reflect on how crucial they are to the way most of the world still lives.”
Shepherd-Barron said plans call for having a birthday party every year on June 27 when the ATM Appreciation Society will announce that year’s “Most Extreme ATM.” The same date will also mark the inaugural “World ATM Day,” the organization stated.