Today marks the 50th anniversary of the world’s first ATM, and despite a rise in contactless payments and new technologies cash looks set to remain “a crucial part of people’s day-to-day lives”.

The first ATM was unveiled by Barclays at its Enfield branch on 27 June 1967 and as a tribute to this golden anniversary, Barclays has transformed the modern-day Enfield cash machine by giving it a lick of gold paint.

The original ATM was the brainchild of John Shepherd-Barron, who Barclays commissioned to create six cash dispensers – the first of which was installed at Enfield. The actor Reg Varney, of the ITV sitcom On the Buses, was the star of the opening and the first person to use the brand-new invention.

And despite the rise in new and speedier payment technologies, the ATM continues to thrive 50 years on – in fact, in December 2016 the UK record for most cash withdrawn in a day was broken, as Christmas shoppers withdrew £730 million.

Raheel Ahmed, head of customer experience and channels at Barclays, commented: “Even though recent years have seen a huge uptake of digital banking and card payments, cash remains a crucial part of most people’s day-to-day lives – whether it’s paying for groceries or doing the office coffee run – and we’re very proud of the role that Barclays has played in the history of the cash machine.

However, not all agree and many think the death of cash is on the horizon. Simon Black, CEO of PPRO Group, said: “Physical money is fast becoming redundant in today’s increasingly connected society with a third of the UK stating that they never use cash anymore. The popularity of mobile and contactless payments demonstrates the changing payment landscape in the UK, lessening our dependency on cash.

“It’s unlikely the ATM reaching its 60th anniversary, and with 44 per cent of us stating that we rarely use them to remove cash from our accounts anymore, it will not be long until ATMs are consigned to the history books.”

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