Money coming out of wall – it's normal for us. It was 27th of May 1968, when district Sparkasse Tübingen Germany's first ATM was set up, just under a year after Barclays Bank in Enfield, north of London, had installed world's first device for its bank customers. Today, fifty years later, re are almost 60,000 vending machines in Germany to withdraw money. But ir numbers are shrinking.

According to information from German banking industry, umbrella Association of German Banks, in Germany at end of 2017, almost 58,400 ATMs were still in operation. The climax with 61,100 machines had been reached in year 2015. The causes are digitisation and cost pressure. "We have rule of thumb that operation of an ATM costs approximately between 20,000 and 25,000 euro (per year)," said Jürgen Gros, head of Bavarian Cooperative Association, to which national and Raiffeisen banks belong. "That must also be deserved. Permanent is no business model. "

This seems to end decades-long triumph of a machine that is not yet part of everyday life. After introduction of first vending machine in Tübingen 1968, it was 29,400 in year 1994 nationwide. Until 2015, this figure doubled. But from 2016 to 2017 alone, 1,600 vending machines were dismantled again.

Pick up money at shop checkout

This does not mean, however, that re would be fewer opportunities to withdraw money in meantime. The vending machines have lost importance because on one hand online trade is flourishing and on or hand more and more shops offer money at shop.

Experts consider this service to be a temporary phenomenon. The Munich payment service provider Wirecard believes that in foreseeable future complete infrastructure of payment will be organized via mobile phone. For retailers, cash payment means costs – solely because revenue has to be transferred to bank. Numbers per app is already everyday in China. According to many experts, this will also establish itself in Germany.

June 27, 1967 in Enfield north of London: Vice-director Sir Thomas Bland (left) of Barclays Bank in London opened first ATM in world toger with chief of banknote manufacturer de La Rue, Sir Arthur Norman. Also in this was actor Reg Varney (with cap). © Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

"Retailers expect service to buy more goods and, as a result, reduce cash stock in cash registers, which is associated with considerable costs," said Markus Eichinger of Wirecard. "Although re are still around 85 percent of all transactions using cash today worldwide, potential for local purely digital payment solutions such as Boon, Orange cash or Allianz Prime is very large."

Moreover, criminals have ir share in fact that banks are beginning to feel like vending machines. "The attacks on ATMs are tending to increase cost of insurance and reconditioning of equipment and environment where it is destroyed," said a spokesman for German banking industry in Berlin. The banks would not be completely disappearing in foreseeable future, but industry expects a furr decline: "The German banking industry expects that number of ATMs will continue to be easy in coming years will be declining. "

The ATM was invented by American immigrant Lur George Simjian from Armenia, but only Donald Wetzel, an engineer from Louisiana, came up with idea with pin number and later led a program of USA to a mass-suitable device Develop. At beginning of September 1969, i.e. more than one year after Tübingen Savings Bank, Americans got ir first ATM in state of New York. A pretty big step for money transfer of humanity, six weeks after someone landed on moon for first time.

Date Of Update: 16 April 2018, 12:02