Banking history: from the ATM to the mobile app
The first ATM worked with a paper voucher and gave out no more than 10 pounds. Today the bank is inside the phone. We trace the short road of digital banking in key points.
A few decades ago, to get money you had to queue at the bank during its opening hours. The ATM, then the internet, then the smartphone changed this habit completely.
- The first ATM. According to Guinness World Records and Historic England, the world's first cash dispensing machine went into operation on 27 June 1967 at a Barclays branch in the Enfield area of London. It was invented by John Shepherd-Barron.
- How did it work? The customer got money with a special paper voucher and a PIN, and at most £10 was given out at a time. ATMs working with plastic cards became widespread later.
- The dispute over "first". Some sources say that a similar machine was also installed in Tokyo in 1966. That is why the title of "first" is sometimes described as disputed.
- An interbank messaging network. In 1973, 239 banks in 15 countries founded the SWIFT cooperative. As Swift writes on its website, the aim was to replace payment messages sent by telex with a single standardised system.
- Internet and mobile banking. At the next stage customers began to deal with their bank through a computer and then a smartphone: going to the bank was no longer necessary to check a balance, make a transfer or make a payment.
- Fintech. Today banking services are also offered by technology companies: payment apps, e-wallets, online loans. The main question, however, has not changed: whom does the customer trust with their money, and who supervises it?
The 1980s, the 2000s and today (the general trend, the author's table):
| Feature | 1980s | 2000s | Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where accounts are kept | bank computers and paper ledgers together | the bank's electronic systems | electronic systems that customers see on their own phones |
| Getting cash | the bank's cash desk, ATMs spreading | ATMs and cards have become the norm | the need for cash has fallen, many payments are made by phone even without a card |
| Contact with the bank | mainly by going to a branch | branch and internet banking | mainly the mobile app, the branch for complex matters |
| Speed of transfers | often several days | faster, but often within business days | a few seconds in countries with instant payment systems |
As a result of this development, the bank has turned from a "building" into a "service": the customer does not go to the bank, the bank is in the customer's pocket.
Example (prepared by the author, hypothetical). In the 2000s Dilnoza opa, the owner of the "Gulbahor" café, took the day's takings to the bank's cash desk every evening. Today customers pay by QR code or card, the money goes straight into the account, and Dilnoza opa sees the day's results in the app on her phone. The accountant's work has changed too: takings are now often recorded not on the basis of a cash receipt order but on the basis of a bank statement.
See also
Sources
- Guinness World Records: First cash dispenser
- Historic England: Enfield bank listed
- Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand): The Press, 22 August 1966 · a 1966 newspaper report about a machine installed in Tokyo that gave cash to holders of a special credit card
- Swift: about its history and the organisation · founded in 1973 by 239 banks in 15 countries as a cooperative to replace the telex
- Historic England: Barclays Bank, 20 The Town, Enfield (list entry 1484988) · the world's first working ATM opened in this building on 27 June 1967
- Example · prepared by the author, hypothetical