Photo Recall: Newfangled machine right on the money

Carolyn Head, of Milford puts her cashflow card into the cashflow mahine outside the Auckland Savings Bank head office. Photo / NZ Herald archives

Photo recall: Cash machines may seem old hat in these days of point-of-sale transactions, smart cards and online banking. But 30 years ago, hole-in-the-wall machines were the big new thing

Banking technology is more advanced than ever, but it seems real people are still quite fond of cold, hard cash.

Thirty years after the first automatic teller machines (ATMs) created a buzz in Auckland, cash is still giving credit cards and internet banking a run for their money.

An article published in the New Zealand Herald on May 5, 1982, explained how people could withdraw money from the cash machines outside business hours. Some banks allowed transactions between 6am and 11pm; some, perish the thought, enabled 24/7 banking.

"Customers wanting to use the machines are issued with a card which is inserted into the machine to activate it," the article explained.

"Each customer has a personal number which is typed into the machine. Instructions flashed on to the machine's screen prompt the user through the selected transaction."

There were strict withdrawal limits of $200 during banking hours, and $50 outside of banking hours.

At the time, the Northern United Building Society's promotions manager, Donald Trott, said the society was issuing up to 200 cards per day in response to the "incredible" reaction from customers.

Carolyn Parker, of Glenfield, says she was approached on the street by a Herald photographer as she was using the machine.

She recalls how cash machines became the "talking point" of Auckland.

"ATMs were a lot more of a novelty," Parker says. "I would have thought it was a good thing at the time."

The 53-year-old says everyone used to do the "hole-in-the-wall thing", but she believes card purchases are more convenient and popular today.

"We probably use them less now because people pay by Eftpos directly rather than going to the bank and getting money out," she surmises.

But ASB says business remains steady at the hole-in-the-wall machines. The bank's ATM business manager, Alan Francis, says transactions have increased from about 1000 a day in 1982 to 85,000.

"Our network has expanded dramatically, from 11 ATMs in 1982 to 485 in 2012," Francis said. "ATMs are now used more than ever."

ATMs have advanced from the old machines that allowed simple withdrawals and deposits, he explains, to sophisticated computers that will process more complicated transactions such as funds transfers, mini-statements and prepay phone top-ups.

chloe.johnson@hos.co.nz