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May 2 marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the ATM. Its inventor, James Goodfellow, changed the world but only gained 10 pounds.
When someone designs a world-changing technological breakthrough, you assume they’ll be fairly rewarded. We see it every day. Founders of companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google or Facebook are among the richest in the world.
And if you don’t become a billionaire, at least the consolation of fame remains. who does not know thomas edison, Graham Bell either Nicholas Tesla?
James GoodFellow, the inventor of the ATM, it has neither one nor the other. For his invention he only charged 10 pounds (about €12), despite the fact that he has helped millions of people around the world, and banks have made a fortune at his expense.
Before 1966 banks closed in the evenings and on weekends, so if you forgot to withdraw money on Saturday morning you had to put up with what you had in your wallet until Monday. The queues at the banks to withdraw money, as it is easy to guess, were hell.
By then James Goodfellow He was a British engineer working for the Kelvin Hughes firm of Smiths Industries, a machinery manufacturing company. Goodfellow was commissioned to devise a method for customers to withdraw money when banks were closed.
Although the first patents for ATMs in 1963, they were machines that only served to receive money (not deliver it), and could not identify the users.
Goodfellow invented a button machine that used punch cards to identify customers:
The customer inserted his punched card together with a personal identification number that allowed him to be identified automatically, without the need for an operator. James Goodfellow was alsothe inventor of the PIN.
The patent for this first ATM registered on May 2, 1966so this week marks the 50th anniversary. Goodfellow was paid £10 for his invention. and, after a testing phase, the first ATMwas installed at Westminster Bank in 1967. There are currently more than three million ATMs around the world, which have reduced queues at banks and have saved life to millions of people who have run out of money when the bank is closed.
its inventor, James Goodfellow, has never charged a penny for creating the first ATM, although in 2006 he was made a Knight of the British Empire forinvent the PIN and contribute to the development of the country.
(Source: TechWorm, Wikipedia)
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