ATMs

You're short on cash, so you walk over to the automated teller machine (**ATM**), insert your card into the card reader, respond to the prompts on the screen, and within a minute you walk away with your money and a receipt.

**__What is ATM?__** An automated teller machine ( ATM ) is a computerized telecommunications device that provides the customers of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a human clerk or bank teller. On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smartcard with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information. Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals (or credit card cash advances) and check their account balances as well as purchasing mobile cell phone prepaid credit. ATMs are known by various casual terms including //automated banking machine//, //money machine//, //bank machine//, //cash machine//, //hole-in-the-wall//, //cashpoint//, //Bancomat// (in various countries in Europe and Russia), // Multibanco // (after a registered trade mark, in Portugal ), and //Any Time Money// (in India)

The first mechanical cash dispenser was developed and built by Luther George Simjian and installed in 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance. Thereafter, the history of ATMs paused for over 25 years, until De La Rue developed the first electronic ATM, which was installed first in Enfield Town in North London, United Kingdom on 27 June 1967 by Barclays Bank. The first ATMs accepted only a single-use token or voucher, which was retained by the machine. These worked on various principles including radiation and low-coercivity magnetism that was wiped by the card reader to make fraud more difficult. The machine dispensed pre-packaged envelopes containing ten pounds sterling. The idea of a PIN stored on the card was developed by the British engineer James Goodfellow in 1965.
 * __Background of ATM__**

__**How ATM works?**__ An ATM is simply a **data terminal** with two input and four output devices. Like any other data terminal, the ATM has to connect to, and communicate through, a **host processor**. The host processor is analogous to an Internet service provider (ISP) in that it is the gateway through which all the various ATM networks become available to the cardholder (the person wanting the cash). Most host processors can support either **leased-line** or **dial-up** machines. Leased-line machines connect directly to the host processor through a four-wire, point-to-point and dedicated telephone line. Dial-up ATMs connect to the host processor through a normal phone line using a modem and a toll-free number, or through an Internet service provider using a local access number dialed by modem. Leased-line ATMs are preferred for very high-volume locations because of their **thru-put** capability and dial-up ATMs are preferred for retail merchant locations where cost is a greater factor than thru-put. The initial cost for a dial-up machine is less than half that for a leased-line machine. The monthly operating costs for dial-up are only a fraction of the costs for leased-line. The host processor may be owned by a bank or financial institution, or it may be owned by an independent service provider. Bank-owned processors normally support only bank-owned machines, whereas the independent processors support merchant-owned machines.