James Goodfellow OBE, KCHS, FIIE (born 1937) is a Scottish

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. In 1966, he

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

personal identification number A personal identification number (PIN), or sometimes redundantly a PIN number or PIN code, is a numeric (sometimes alpha-numeric) passcode used in the process of authenticating a user accessing a system. The PIN has been the key to facilitat ...

(PIN) technology and an

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...

(ATM). He is generally considered the inventor of the modern ATM. Goodfellow was born in

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

, where he later attended St Mirin's Academy. As a 28-year-old development engineer at

Kelvin Hughes Hensoldt UK, formerly Kelvin Hughes, is a British company specialising in the design and manufacture of navigation and surveillance systems and a supplier of navigational data to both the commercial marine and government marketplace. The company ...

, he was given the project of developing an automatic cash dispenser in 1965. His system accepted a machine readable encrypted card, with a numerical PIN keypad. The invention received UK Patent No. 1,197,183 with a priority date of 2 May 1966. In 1967, the world's first ATM was in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

, which used a rival design by

John Shepherd-Barron John Adrian Shepherd-Barron OBE (23 June 1925 – 15 May 2010) was an India-born British inventor, who led the team that installed the first cash machine, sometimes referred to as the automated teller machine or ATM. Early life John Adrian Shep ...

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features (including security holograms, security threads and security printe ...

that accepted cheques impregnated with a radioactive chemical. De La Rue did not patent the design. In 2005, Shepherd-Barron was widely reported as the inventor of the cash dispenser after he received an OBE. This compelled Goodfellow to publicize his patent. " hepherd-Barroninvented a radioactive device to withdraw money. I invented an automated system with an encrypted card and a pin number, and that's the one that is used around the world today," he said. Despite being appointed an OBE in the 2006

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

for his invention of the personal identification number, Goodfellow has publicly commented on the lack of recognition and compensation for his inventiveness, since PIN codes are ubiquitous today. Goodfellow, a Fellow of the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...

, was inducted into the

Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame The Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame honours "those engineers from, or closely associated with, Scotland who have achieved, or deserve to achieve, greatness", as selected by an independent panel representing Scottish engineering institutions, aca ...

in 2016. In 2011, BBC Radio Scotland broadcast Goodfellow's oral account of the history of his invention, rebroadcast in 2022.

References

External links

James Goodfellow
entry at the

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and cont ...

"Who invented the ATM machine? - The James Goodfellow Story"
at atmmachine.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodfellow, James 1937 births Living people Scottish inventors Scottish electrical engineers Engineers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Paisley, Renfrewshire People educated at St Mirin's Academy Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Roman Catholics

See also

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