<div align="justify">The automated teller machine (ATM) marked its 50th anniversary today, with a British bank decorating the site of the world's first cashpoint in gold to mark the occasion.<br /><div align="justify"><br />The first ATM was unveiled by Barclays at their Enfield branch in north London on June 27, 1967.<br /><br />"The invention of the ATM was a historical moment that completely changed the way the world thought about and used cash," Barclays said.<br /><br />The original cash machine was the brainchild of John Shepherd-Barron, who was commissioned by the bank to create six cash dispensers. They were based on vending machines.<br /><br />Customers could access their money outside of banking hours -- a mini-revolution on the high street.<br /><br />The first person to use the inaugural ATM was actor Reg Varney, the star of a popular British TV comedy called "On The Buses", brought in to show how easy it was to use.<br /><br />The Barclays cashpoint in Enfield has been given a gold makeover, and a roped-off red carpet approach to celebrate the anniversary.<br /><br />A black-and-white picture of Varney using the ATM stands above it, while a commemorative gold plaque has been placed on the bank wall.<br /><br />There now are an estimated three million plus cash machines on the planet.<br /><br />The world's most southerly ATM is at the McMurdo Station research base on Antarctica, while the highest is at 4,693 metres in Pakistan's Khunjerab Pass near the Chinese border.<br /><br />There is an ATM inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, mobile ATMs on trucks, one on a golf buggy in the US state of Georgia and one in a Dubai hotel that dispenses gold bars.<br /><br />Though other technologies such as mobile and online banking have come into play, the number of cash machines is expected to grow, with China and India driving the expansion.<br /><br />The Payments UK trade association recently predicted that the rapid growth in the use of contactless cards means cash will be overtaken as Britain's most frequently-used payment method by the end of next year.<br /><br />But in 10 years, it is still expected to make up around a fifth of all payments in Britain.<br /><br />"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," said Raheel Ahmed, Barclays' head of customer experience.<br /><br />The British record for the most cash withdrawn in a single day was broken last December as Christmas shoppers withdrew 730 million pounds (USD 935 million), according to industry figures.</div></div>
<div align="justify">The automated teller machine (ATM) marked its 50th anniversary today, with a British bank decorating the site of the world's first cashpoint in gold to mark the occasion.<br /><div align="justify"><br />The first ATM was unveiled by Barclays at their Enfield branch in north London on June 27, 1967.<br /><br />"The invention of the ATM was a historical moment that completely changed the way the world thought about and used cash," Barclays said.<br /><br />The original cash machine was the brainchild of John Shepherd-Barron, who was commissioned by the bank to create six cash dispensers. They were based on vending machines.<br /><br />Customers could access their money outside of banking hours -- a mini-revolution on the high street.<br /><br />The first person to use the inaugural ATM was actor Reg Varney, the star of a popular British TV comedy called "On The Buses", brought in to show how easy it was to use.<br /><br />The Barclays cashpoint in Enfield has been given a gold makeover, and a roped-off red carpet approach to celebrate the anniversary.<br /><br />A black-and-white picture of Varney using the ATM stands above it, while a commemorative gold plaque has been placed on the bank wall.<br /><br />There now are an estimated three million plus cash machines on the planet.<br /><br />The world's most southerly ATM is at the McMurdo Station research base on Antarctica, while the highest is at 4,693 metres in Pakistan's Khunjerab Pass near the Chinese border.<br /><br />There is an ATM inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, mobile ATMs on trucks, one on a golf buggy in the US state of Georgia and one in a Dubai hotel that dispenses gold bars.<br /><br />Though other technologies such as mobile and online banking have come into play, the number of cash machines is expected to grow, with China and India driving the expansion.<br /><br />The Payments UK trade association recently predicted that the rapid growth in the use of contactless cards means cash will be overtaken as Britain's most frequently-used payment method by the end of next year.<br /><br />But in 10 years, it is still expected to make up around a fifth of all payments in Britain.<br /><br />"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," said Raheel Ahmed, Barclays' head of customer experience.<br /><br />The British record for the most cash withdrawn in a single day was broken last December as Christmas shoppers withdrew 730 million pounds (USD 935 million), according to industry figures.</div></div>