News

New book, 'Cash and Dash,' traces impact of ATMs, computers in retail banking

July 11, 2018

ATM historian Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo has published a new book, Cash and Dash: How ATMs and Computers Changed Banking, tracing the birth and evolution of digital banking from the 1960s through the current day.

The book looks closely at the influence of the ATM on the retail banking journey, and explores the drivers of long-term innovation with an emphasis on the payment system, according to a press release.

In the pages of Cash and Dash, Bátiz-Lazo offers:

• An index of technological change in banking, with explanations of the organizational and technological challenges that accompanied the development of computer networks.
• An in-depth look at the cultural significance of ATMs.
• Cross-country comparisons that suggest why, despite globalization, retail payment systems map to national borders.

"It's a monumental achievement to trace the technological intricacies behind the invention of ATMs and how the whole universe of digital banking subsequently opened up," ATM Industry Association CEO Mike Lee said in the release.

Cash and Dash was 10 years in the making, according to Bàtiz-Lazo, a professor of business history and bank management at Bangor University in Wales. Also during that time, he co-wrote Cashbox: The invention and Globalization of the ATM with Tom Harper, a founding member of ATMIA and CEO of ATM Marketplace publisher Networld Media Group.

According to the release, Bàtiz-Lazo's new book is based on archival and contemporary research conducted in locales that included Japan, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, the U.S. and the U.K., among others.

He said the book would not have been possible without the support and assistance of the British Academy; Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware; and the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota. He also credited members of the ATM Industry Association for their contributions.

"This task has greatly benefited from the support and encouragement of ATMIA's members, many of whom shared their time and recollections to help interpret key moments and aspects of this technology, its current challenges, and its likely future," he said.

"Cash and Dash: How ATMs and Computers Changed Banking" is available for order direct from the publisher or through Amazon.

Included In This Story

---

ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

Request Info

Learn More