Fifty years ago this week the first Automated Teller Machine in America was unveiled at a bank in Long Island, New York. (The world’s first ATM appeared two years earlier in England.) In America, the original ATM was called a Docuteller. Arriving before credit cards, personal computers, and the Internet, the ATM produced a major change in society. It created 24/7 banking, made people comfortable dealing directly with machines (robots), and simplified international travel. Today there are 3.5 million ATMs worldwide, but the need for cash dispensing machines is on the decrease in the face of a cashless society. Alexander Joyce of ReJoice Financial says, “It is still very popular with the baby boomer generation. However, due to technology, most millennials don’t even know their PIN number. The new ATM is in our pockets. Your phone, through applications, does most of the functions your bank can” (“90-year-old inventor of the ATM celebrates its 50th birthday,” Fox News, Aug. 30, 2019). Global communication and banking technology is a major sign of the times. We can see “the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). (Friday Church News Notes, September 6, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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