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Michael Jameison Brooks DCI 8 May 20200 ATMs

For my research paper, I decided to research ATMs. Although ATMs are not necessarily “dead tech,” many people believe that they are on the decline. After researching further, I went on to create my own argument regarding ATMs and there past, present, and future impacts. There past revolves around the creation and its impact on banking usage and banks in general. The present describes what they are being used for now. The future is my opinion regarding what will happen with ATMs in the future.

ATM stands for automated teller machine. The first automated teller machine was created in 1967 and installed in a suburb of London. “One New York bank touted the innovation with an ad that told customers, “On Sept. 2, our banks will open at 9 a.m. and never close again,” according to Smithsonian Magazine” (Pete). This goes to show how much the banks loved these new machines. The ATMs have made withdrawing cash substantially easier and it is estimated that over eighty percent of all withdrawals are done from ATMs. Since then, over 3.5 million ATMs have been installed across world. In 1960, the Bankograph was invented, but it did not quite catch on like the ATM. The Bankgraph was a machine that allowed customers to deposit cash and checks into it. It didn’t work as well because there was a lack of trust and its only business were gamblers and other people with dirty money. Now, modern day ATMs have implemented a much more reliable process of depositing money. Present day ATMs are much different from those that were made in the late 60s and early 70s. The ATMs of those days were often unreliable and would give you the wrong amount of money, or no money at all. The ATMs also had major security issues as well as the fact that they were just much slower than present day ATMs. ATMs today now have many more security features and you can still manage to get your money, the correct amount, in under thirty seconds. The amount of people using ATMs have also spiked over time. There was a constant increase in usage but now, it is on the decline. There are many reasons for that which I will go into later. Although it has been declining, there are still billions of dollars’ worth of transactions every year in ATMs. The ATMs are transforming to become more and more useful, but can they keep up? Some of these changes include facial recognition that will link a face to a bank account, linking lotteries to ATMs, and finger scanning has been becoming more popular. Now why would an ATM be going out of business?

ATMs have been on the decline for the last couple years for various reasons, one of which is cashless payment. With fewer and fewer places accepting strictly cash, the need for cash has decreased greatly. And with the new mobile payments such as Venmo, cash app, and apple pay, why would consumers need cash? More and more stores are accepting payment by phone whether that is Venmo or apple pay. Venmo is an app on your phone that allows you to pay a person any amount you would like. That is another thing it has over cash, getting the exact amount you want immediately. If you have a 20 and your friend has a 10 but you owe him 12, what are you going to do? That means even if you don’t have your credit card, you can still make purchases. With that being said, do I think that ATMs will go extinct? No. In order for ATMs to become extinct, we must live in a cashless society. I do not see anywhere being a cashless society anytime soon. There are always things one can buy that you must pay for with cash.

With everything being said, I do believe ATMs are on the decline, but there will always be new technology to improve them and there will always be businesses that only accept cash. I am interested what a cashless world would be like and how technology would factor into it. I believe that if the world was cashless there would be some challenges at first regarding security and also creating counterfeit online money.

Works Cited Buckle, Richard. “ATMs going , going, already gone?” ATM Marketplace, 13 June 2018, www.atmmarketplace.com/blogs/atms-going-going-already-gone/. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article explores a cashless system in Europe. After going from country to country, there was a large protest in Germany. The author looks further into the proposal and sees why cash, and ATMs won’t be going anywhere, anytime soon. The Guardian. 10 ju 2017, www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jun/10/atm-touchscreen-technology. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article explains some implements banks have added to ATMs. These were added because of the fear of becoming a cashless society. McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. “The ATM is Dead. Long Live the ATM!” Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/atm-dead-long-live-atm-180953838/. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article goes over the history of the ATM. It goes on to describe its creation and why it was such a desirable piece of technology for banks. In the subtitle, it poses the question, “Usage is on the decline – so why are banks looking to the machines to save them?” After explaining the history of the ATM, the article explains why they’re still very important for banks. Mohanty, Jyoti Swaroop. “Why ATMs are disappearing.” Medium, 6 Sept. 2019, medium.com/@jyotiswaroop.mohanty23/why-atms-are-disappearing-b4f141f463a5. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article explains why ATMs are disappearing and why it may be a good thing. The main argument is lower risk of theft and counterfeit currency. Pete, Joseph. “ATM Turns 50.” NWI Times, 21 June 2017, www.nwitimes.com/business/local/atm-turns-cash-dispensers-changed-banking-society/article_bfc16f24-75f2-5b95-a85f-f8fbe51744cf.html. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article reflects on the 50 years of ATMs. They give a run down of the history Quijones, Don. “Why Are ATMs Disappearing at an Alarming Rate after a Wave of Branch Closures?” Wolf Street, 15 Aug. 2018, wolfstreet.com/2018/08/15/why-atm-disappearing-after-wave-of-bank-branch-closures/. Accessed 8 May 2020. This article takes a much more global approach, but the argument is there nonetheless. The article shows my ATMs are not as important to banks as people think they are and back it up with facts regarding the removal of ATMs.