Inventor ATM
Over the years many people have tried to lay claim to the title of "inventor of the ATM."
Some believe that Luther George Simjian was the inventor because his idea came first.
Some believe it was Don Wetzel, after all, he's got patents on display in the Museum of American History to prove it.
Still others, including the Queen of England, say the inventor is John Shepherd-Barron.
John D. White has contacted ATMmachine.com, sent us copies of his patents, and gave very convincing evidence that he is the inventor of the ATM and not Don Wetzel.
James Goodfellow of Scotland also contacted ATMmachine.com and gave us his account,, including copies of detailed patents, that he should be considered the inventor of the ATM.
Jairus Larson contacted ATMmachine.com and told us that, although he did not invent the ATM, he did develop the first "on-line" ATM.
Since the patent on an ATM as we know it was never applied for until years after Simjian, confusion on the inventor still exists. One reason for the confusion is that John Shepherd-Barron lived in the United Kingdom, James Goodfellow in Scotland, while the others lived in the USA. I will present all the facts and evidence as I know it on this page, while being brief.
The ATM Inventors and the facts:
Luther George Simjian
In the late 1930's, Luther George Simjian started building an earlier and not-so-successful version of an ATM, but he did register related patents. He initially came up with the idea of creating a hole-in-the-wall machine that would allow customers to make financial transactions; the idea was met with a great deal of doubt. Starting in 1939, Simjian registered 20 patents related to the device and persuaded what is now ...