The coming of ATM’s to Ireland

It may seem normal now, it may seem strange that it could be a blog post, but 45 years ago in 1980 the advent of ‘Automated Teller Machines’ (ATM) was major news in Ireland. People were not sure about the machine and commentary in a variety of Irish newspapers reflects this.

This news report from 1980 highlights how revolutionary it was:

CORK will be one of the first three centres outside Dublin to have the Bank of Ireland's Automated Teller Machine, which means that the holder of a PASS card (which in turn means Personal Automatic Self-Service) will be able to withdraw cash, order a cheque book or ask for a statement at any time of the day or night, seven days a week. The new service was introduced, and was in operation, at a press reception at the Bank's branch at Stillorgan Shopping Centre, one of the first three Dublin branches to have the service.

Because of the large number of branches, installation in all the main ones will take a considerable time, but a spokesman told our Dublin correspondent that the service may be in Cork in the summer and in Tralee probably before the end of the year. The PASS machines are specially designed for ease of use and clear instructions will appear on the screen incorporated into the machines to guide the customer through each transaction. Every user requires a confidential personal number which must be keyed, into the machine at every transaction. This ensures that nobody else can see.

The PASS machine issues cash in multiples of £5 up to a maximum of £50 a day from the customer's account and provides a record slip for each transaction. It is a highly sophisticated piece of equipment, but is designed to be quick and very easy to use and the personal number, which should be kept a secret, ensures the privacy and security of transactions.

So if you are at machine this weekend…remember how exciting a development this was 45 years ago!

For more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )