There has been a great deal of debate over the history of the ATM, including who the ATMs inventor is. So, to clear up some of the confusion, Invention & Technology magazine, in its summer 2000 issue, published an in-depth piece on the ATM's history. That article in inspired the following timeline.

1960 - ATM predecessor installed: New York's First National City Bank (now CitiBank) installs a Bankograph in several branch lobbies. The idea is for customers to pay utility bills and get receipts without having to see a teller. 1967 - First cash dispenser installation: The first cash dispenser, made by De La Rue Instruments, makes its debut in a Barclays Bank branch near London. It uses paper vouchers bought from tellers. The machine is called the De La Rue Automatic Cash System, or DACS.

(According to the article written by Invention & Technology's Mike Lee, John Shepherd-Barron - the cash dispenser's inventor qq claims that the paper vouchers are actually checks impregnated with Carbon 14.) 1968 - Card-eating: Barclays and a few other banks introduce a machine that encodes cash on plastic cards purchased from a teller. The problem is that the machine always eats the cards, and customers have to buy new cards if they want to make more transactions.

Diebold's early ATM, called a TABS machine.

1969 - First use of ATM magstripe cards: Docutel installs its Docuteller machine at New York's Chemical Bank. The installation marks the first use of magnetically encoded plastic. Chemical Bank's ad campaign announces: "On Sept. 2, our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again!"

Other manufacturers get into the game, but Docutel is the first to apply for a patent. Docutel is later credited by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as being the ATM's inventor. But most people in the industry recognize Docutel's first machine as the first modern magstripe machine.

Donald C. Wetzel is given credit for developing the Docutel machine, which is initially met with resistance from bankers. Bankers say they're concerned about the machine's cost, which is about $8,000 more annually than a human teller. The bankers also fear that customers won't like having a machine handling their money.

1971 - First true bank ATMs: Docutel introduces its Total Teller, the first true fully functioning bank ATM. 1973 - Proliferation begins: By 1973, 2,000 ATMs - mostly from Docutel- are operating in the United States. They sell for about $30,000 each.

Diebold begins work on the development of its TABS 600 with plans for an off-line prototype. 1974 - Diebold's first TABS 500 machine, an off-line version, is installed at a bank in Atlanta.

Diebold develops the TABS 550, an on-line and off-line version. The flexibility of the machine makes it unique and more marketable to banks.

The TABS 600 also is developed.

1978 - The first IBM-compatible Diebold machine is installed at a bank in Indianapolis.

Source: Jerry Larson, who helped to develop Diebold's TABS 500, 550 and 600