James Goodfellow


1937 -

Inventor of the modern form of the 'cash machine'. Born in Paisley (Renfrewshire), Goodfellow was educated there at St. Mirin's Academy and in Glasgow. He worked for Kelvin Hughes, a company founded by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824 - 1907), and now part of Smith's Industries. He came up with the concept of a Automated Teller Machine (ATM) based on an encrypted card and Personal Identification Number (PIN), a technology he patented. There has been debate as to whether Goodfellow or John Shepherd-Barron (1925 - 2010) was the inventor of the cash machine, but there is little doubt that it is Goodfellow's technology that remains the basis of today's machines, of which there are now more than one million installed world-wide.

Goodfellow still lives in Paisley and was awarded an OBE in the Birthday Honours list for 2006 for his services to banking.


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