In 1939, Luther George Simjian patented an early and not-so-successful prototype of an ATM. Some experts have the opinion that James Goodfellow of Scotland holds the earliest patent date of 1966 for a modern ATM, and John D White (also of Docutel) in the US is often credited with inventing the first free-standing ATM design. In 1967, John Shepherd-Barron invented and installed an ATM in a Barclays Bank in London. Don Wetzel invented an American made ATM in 1968. However, it wasn't until the mid to late 1980s that ATMs became part of mainstream banking.
Luther Simjian
According to Lemelson-MIT, Luther Simjian came up with the idea of creating a hole-in-the-wall machine that would allow customers to make financial transactions and starting in 1939, Luther Simjian registered 20 patents related to the invention and field tested it in what is now Citicorp. After six months, the bank reported that there was little demand for the new invention and discontinued its use.
Automated Teller Machine - ATM
Luther George Simjian inventions include the self-focusing camera, a flight speed indicator for airplanes, an automatic postage metering machine, and the teleprompter. He is most famous for his invention of the Bankmatic automatic teller machine (ATM).
Luther George Simjian 1905 - 1997
His first big commercial invention was the self-posing portrait camera, which would allow a subject to look into a mirror and see the same pose that the camera would take before the picture was taken.
