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Webinar will examine the ATM's past - and its prospects for the future

As the saying goes, 'To know where you're going, you have to know where you've been.'

July 17, 2013 by Suzanne Cluckey — Owner, Suzanne Cluckey Communications

"What's past is prologue."

Those words from William Shakespeare are a spot-on summary of the ATM industry today.

In 50 years, the humble cash-dispenser has come far — probably further than its inventor (whose identity is a much-argued point) imagined it ever would.

"Cash Box: The Invention and Globalization of the ATM," the recently published book that chronicles the ATM's rise to ubiquity (and the focus of a July 30 webinar) sums up the progress of the ATM industry this way: 

The deployment of the cash machine sparked a technological revolution that altered consumer behavior, redefined retail banking and launched a global installation race that still rages 45 years later.

The technological revolution gave rise to an industry whose size and economic impact reach far beyond the manufacture of the physical box:

Today the global ATM footprint of nearly 2.4 million machines yields more than six billion transactions every year. All this dispensed cash has to be counted, delivered, protected from thieves, shielded from the elements, monitored, reconciled — before it ever lands in the consumer's hands.

An intricate web of manufacturers, transaction processors, consultants, maintenance companies, installers, software providers, and dozens of other ATM-related business segments has risen to meet the demands of this burgeoning industry. We conservatively estimate this infrastructure is a $100–150 billion market worldwide, not including the value of the cash inside the machines.

The ATM revolution also has made a deep cultural imprint on every market where it's been introduced. It has offered citizens something they'd never really had from a bank — convenience — and it's changed their expectations of the financial services industry.

In a Webinar on Tuesday, July 30, ATM Marketplace will examine the ATM in the recent history of financial services, and its likely place in the future of a banking industry in the midst of a transition to "the branch of the future."

"A better understanding of your past helps to articulate a more solid future," said webinar presenter Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo, professor of business history and bank management at Bangor University in Wales.

Bátiz-Lazo will be will be joined Tom Harper, president of Networld Media Group and publisher of ATM Marketplace. The "Cash Box" co-authors will discuss the challenges and achievements of the past — and how they can help the ATM evolve well into the future.

Register for the free one-hour webinar:

"The Most Important Events (and surprises) in the ATM's History"

Date: Tuesday, July 30

Time: 11 a.m. EDT

About Suzanne Cluckey

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Suzanne’s editorial career has spanned three decades and encompassed all B2B and B2C communications formats. Her award-winning work has appeared in trade and consumer media in the United States and internationally.