ATM celebrates 50 years of dispensing cash

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2009 file photo, customers use ATMs at a Bank of America branch office, Friday, Oct 16, 2009 in Boston. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, file)(ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lisa Poole)

WASHINGTON — The ATM is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week.

The very first ATM opened for business on June 27, 1967 at a Barclays branch just north of London, England. Customers were allowed to withdraw up to 10 pounds at that time.

It would be another two years before the first ATM opened up in the U.S, at a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Center, New York, according to the History Channel.

In the 50 years since it debuted, the ATM has revolutionized banking and the way people obtain and use cash. It is now estimated that there are 3 million ATMs around the world, with more than 400,000 in the United States alone. You can find an ATM almost everywhere on earth, including the McMurdo station at the South Pole.

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