Who invented the ATM, and in what way?

Donald Wetzel

After looking first hand at the experiences in Europe, in 1968 the networked ATM was pioneered in the US, in Dallas, Texas, by Donald Wetzel, who was a department head at an automated baggage-handling company called Docutel. Recognised by the United States Patent Office for having invented the ATM network are Fred J. Gentile and Jack Wu Chang, under US Patent # 3,833,885. On September 2, 1969, Chemical Bank installed the first ATM in the U.S. at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York. The first ATMs were designed to dispense a fixed amount of cash when a user inserted a specially coded card.[13] A Chemical Bank advertisement boasted "On Sept. 2 our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again."[14] Chemical's ATM, initially known as a Docuteller was designed by Donald Wetzel and his company Docutel. Chemical executives were initially hesitant about the electronic banking transition given the high cost of the early machines. Additionally, executives were concerned that customers would resist having machines handling their money.[15] In 1995, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History recognised Docutel and Wetzel as the inventors of the networked ATM.[16]

Source: Automated teller machine