John Shepherd-Baron, a Scotsman, was credited with inventing the automated cash dispensing machine now known as the ATM. He died in a hospital in Scotland on May 15, 2010 at the age of 84.
He conceived the idea of the ATM after being locked out of his bank and unable to obtain needed cash. His first machine was installed at a branch of Barclays in a suburb of London on June 27, 1967. Since the plastic bank card had not been invented, he used specially coated checks that were inserted into the machine, along with a personal identification number, to obtain the cash.
His initial PIN number was six digits, but was shortened to four at the urging of his wife. There are now than 1.7 million ATM machines around the world.
For his service to the banking industry, he was awarded the Officers of the Order of the British Empire in 2004.
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