The National ATM Council celebrated the 50th anniversary of the very first ATM installed in the U.S. on Sept. 2. Five decades ago, the machine was installed at a Chemical Bank branch location in Rockville Center, N.Y., and the rest, as they say, is history.
“ATMs are so much part of our national landscape in the U.S., it’s difficult to even imagine what it must have been like back in 1969 when the first ATM became operational,” said George Sarantopoulos, NAC Chair and CEO of Access One Solutions. “Nowadays, we take them for granted and don’t even realize how much ATMs permeate our world and drive commerce all across our country.”
According to a 2018 study, there were 470,135 ATMs in operation in the U.S. in 2016 – nearly 60 percent of which were independent, non-bank terminals.
NAC will continue their celebration of the ATM’s 50th year at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, where it will hold its annual industry conference from Oct. 15-17. More information is available at www.natmc.org/nac-events.