Barclays is a British multinational investment bank and financial services company, headquartered in London, England. Apart from investment banking, Barclays is organised into four core businesses: personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management, and investment management.
Barclays traces its origins to the goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690. James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, several banks in London and the English provinces, including Backhouse's Bank and Gurney's Bank, united as a joint-stock bank under the name Barclays and Co.
Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. In 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first cash dispenser.
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.
The world’s first cash machine landed on a north London, transforming everyday banking for millions of people all over the globe.
On June 27 1967 the cash machine, installed outside a Barclays branch in Enfield, north London, was unveiled. Customers who needed to withdraw money no longer had to rely on bank cashiers, who would close the doors at 3.30pm.
Banks’ restricted opening hours at the time were what inspired John Shepherd-Barron, a British inventor and businessman who worked for De La Rue, the banknote printer, to design a machine that dispensed cash.
Mr Shepherd-Barron came up with the idea of the “automated teller machine” in 1965 after he arrived at his bank “one minute too late” to withdraw money.
That same year Mr Shepherd-Barron bumped into the chief general manager of Barclays as he was sitting down to lunch. Mr Shepherd-Barron was then able to share his idea “over a pink gin”.
Two years later the first ATM was installed outside the Barclays branch in Enfield.
According to en.wikipedia & telegraph.co.uk
