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ATM inventor enters Scotland's Hall of Fame

Xinhua, October 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

They are the "holes in the wall" that have transformed the lives of billions of people, thanks to the ability to withdraw cash from ATMs, or automated teller machines.

Now the man who invented pin-number technology and the automated cash machine has finally been given one of the highest honors in his homeland. James Goodfellow has been added to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.

Goodfellow is one of four famous Scots to be awarded the accolade which celebrates and honors countrymen who have achieved, or deserve to achieve, greatness. The hall of fame was launched in 2011 by the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.

The other three recipients announced Saturday are the inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell, the designer of lighthouses used to guide shipping, Robert Stevenson and the structural engineer Sir Duncan Michael.

Gordon Masterton, chairman of judges for the hall of fame, said: "Scotland can rightly claim to have provided the educational base for many of the world's greatest engineers who have gone on to lead great companies and make world-changing inventions. Duncan Michael and James Goodfellow are living proof that this tradition is alive and well."

Goodfellow, who was born in Scotland in 1937, received just a bonus of just 15 U.S. dollars for his invention and patent of automated cash machines that used pin numbers. There are now an estimated 3 million ATM machines in use around the world.

He worked on the invention because banks in Britain wanted to close on Saturdays and a way had to be found of allowing customers to withdraw cash.

Sir Duncan Michael has worked on iconic structures around the world, including Sydney Opera House and Shahyad Aryamehr Monument in Tehran, and a number of key projects in China including the Hopewell Center in Hong Kong and the Shajiao C Power Station. Endit