The first U.S. cash-dispensing ATM opened to the public on September 2, 1969, at Chemical Bank’s branch in Rockville Centre, Long Island. It offered a new way to get cash beyond conventional branch hours, but it was not the world’s first cash machine: Barclays had opened a cash dispenser near London in 1967.
What happened on September 2, 1969?
Chemical Bank introduced its cash-dispensing machine at the Rockville Centre branch, making the date a landmark in U.S. banking history. The machine addressed a practical problem: customers could obtain cash when the branch was closed, rather than having to fit a visit into ordinary banking hours. HISTORY’s account and a 1989 anniversary report by UPI identify the date and location.
Chemical promoted the change with the line, “On Sept. 2, our bank will open at 9:00 AM and never close again!” The National ATM Council repeated that wording in a 2019 anniversary release; it is presented here as the slogan reproduced in that release, not as a scan of the original advertisement.
Was it the first ATM in the world?
No. The claim is specifically that Chemical Bank’s installation was the first U.S. ATM milestone. A Barclays cash dispenser opened at a branch in Enfield, near London, on June 27, 1967, two years earlier, according to Smithsonian Magazine and HISTORY.
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| Milestone | Date and place | What the claim means |
|---|---|---|
| Barclays cash dispenser | June 27, 1967; Enfield, near London | An earlier cash-dispensing machine outside the United States. |
| Chemical Bank machine | September 2, 1969; Rockville Centre, Long Island | The first U.S. cash-dispensing ATM milestone. |
“ATM” can be used broadly for machines with different capabilities. In this comparison, the distinction is geographic and functional: the London machine was an earlier cash dispenser, while Chemical Bank’s machine marked the U.S. introduction. Neither should be assumed to have offered the full range of services associated with modern ATMs.
What could Chemical Bank’s first U.S. machine do?
Its service was limited to cash withdrawals. UPI’s September 1, 1989 anniversary report, citing Chemical Bank information, said customers could make two withdrawals per day, in either $15 or $30 amounts. The machine was supplied with fresh Federal Reserve bills to help avoid malfunctions. These details describe the original machine, not a standard or feature set shared by ATMs generally.
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How did ATM use grow over the next 20 years?
At the installation’s 20th anniversary in 1989, Chemical Banking Corp. group executive Edward A. O’Neal Jr. told UPI: “Twenty years later, American consumers use 80,000 ATM’s 4.5 billion times annually.” That is O’Neal’s historical statement about U.S. use in 1989, as quoted by UPI on September 1 of that year—not a current ATM count or usage estimate.
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Sources
- UPI Archives: “Chemical celebrates 20th anniversary of automatic tellers” (September 1, 1989), for the original machine’s date, location, withdrawal limits, bill handling and O’Neal’s anniversary-era statement.
- HISTORY: “First U.S. ATM opens for business” (published November 24, 2009; updated September 1, 2026), for the U.S. debut and earlier London context.
- Smithsonian Magazine: “The ATM is Dead. Long Live the ATM!” (2014), for the Barclays cash dispenser and the later U.S. installation.
- National ATM Council via PR Newswire: “National ATM Council Celebrates Milestone as US ATMs Turn 50 in 2019” (January 30, 2019), for the anniversary framing and the reproduced opening-day slogan.
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