ATM and the joy of being boring

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Are ATMs boring? Here’s why that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

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July 18, 2025 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

You might have become highly offended at reading that title. After all, the ATM industry does certainly have a lot of exciting things going on! However, it’s also true that ATMs aren’t some earthshattering futuristic gadget.

Many might call the ATM a bit boring if nothing due to its age. The first ATM was released all the way back in 1967. That being said, there’s a certain joy and reliability to that adage.

Practical

After all, banks which control a huge chunk of the market, are also pretty boring. One bank, PNC Bank even embraces the title in its motto, “Brilliantly Boring Since 1865.”

PNC Bank describes boring as, “smart, steady, dependable. It’s not wild or spontaneous. And neither are we. You see, for nearly 160 years, we’ve been brilliantly boring with your money. The pragmatic, calculated kind of boring.”

This statement could perfectly apply to ATMs as well. They are practical devices built to supply cash.

But like all such practical devices, they have had to evolve over time. After all, the first ATM used carbon-14 vouchers which were printed off by a teller, which was then replaced by PIN numbers, which have remained fairly-standard for users.

Modern features

And of course, modern ATMs have a lot more features. On the most basic level, there was the innovation of check and cash deposits, cash recycling, and even cardless features.

Many of these newer features have helped make the machine more practical and efficient: especially cash recycling. With cash recycling, there’s less time spent replenishing the machine, which in turn saves a lot of money.

Neill Harris, director of product marketing at NCR Atleos pointed out in a story on advanced ATM features that “today over half the world’s ATMS are cash recyclers, and this lowering the cost to deliver cash is critical.”

There have also been attempts to grow the ATM out of its role as just a cash dispenser into a more bank kiosk. The most successful attempt is of course the ITM.

ITMs have many different definitions, but most commonly, they are video machines where customers can speak to bankers to receive live help. Other banks have gotten a bit fancier with ITMs, integrating them into their core systems so customers can pay loans, ask questions about their account, etc.

These ITMs in many ways still serve the purpose of the original ATMs. In the U.S., banking teller unions were complaining about having to work Saturday hours, so ATMs were deployed to deliver the basic banking service of providing cash. There’s another element to it: expanding the bank’s presence.

With an ITM, banks can make more with smaller spaces, since they can offer more telling services on the ITM without having to have a large number of teller windows, and the employees can focus in more on offering guidance and advice.

The crypto caveat

There is one potential caveat here and that is crypto ATMs. These machines provide a digital currency in payment for cash. In many ways, they are more similar to kiosks as you input money and receive an item (albeit a virtual one).

Due to the niche nature of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, one could argue they aren’t boring. And as to their practicality, that depends on how much you buy into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Final thoughts

ATMs are reliable, trustworthy machines that have stood the test of time, and have grown with the times without forgetting their central purpose. So here’s to the ATM!

About Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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