On this day in New York · September 2, 1969
The First ATM Opens in Rockville Centre
A boxy machine on a Long Island sidewalk taught New York that the bank never had to close.
The facts
- Date
- September 2, 1969
- Location
- Chemical Bank branch, Rockville Centre, New York
- Built by
- Docutel, a Dallas manufacturer; the machine was called the "Docuteller"
- Designer
- Donald Wetzel
On September 2, 1969, Chemical Bank switched on a new machine at its branch in Rockville Centre, on Long Island, and gave New Yorkers something no bank had ever offered: a teller who never went home. The machine was built by the Dallas company Docutel and designed by an engineer named Donald Wetzel, and it read a specially coded card before handing back a fixed amount of cash. Chemical's own executives were wary of the cost and unsure any customer would trust a machine with their money. They advertised it anyway, promising the branch would stay open for good starting that Tuesday morning. The idea Wetzel sketched out while standing in a teller line spread to banks across the country within a few years.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
On 2 September 1969, Chemical Bank installed a prototype ATM in the US at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York.
Wikipedia, "Automated teller machine"
Source: Wikipedia -
On Sept. 2 our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again.
Chemical Bank's own advertisement for the machine, quoted on Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
It's the reason you can pull cash out at 2 a.m. on a Friday without anyone unlocking a door for you. The machine that started on one Long Island sidewalk now sits on nearly every block in the five boroughs.
Sources
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