A Scotsman who came up with the idea for the world’s first automatic cash machine while sitting in the bath after he was locked out of his bank has died at the age of 84.
India-born John Shepherd-Barron’s eureka moment was inspired by a machine dispensing chocolate bars and he later sold his concept to an executive at Britain’s Barclays Bank over a pink gin. “It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world,” he told BBC in 2007 — the ATM’s 40th anniversary. “I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash.”
The first customers withdrew money using special cheques impregnated with a mildly radioactive material. The machines were designed to recognise the cheques and dispense money once the customer had entered a PIN.