James Goodfellow

For the Australian cricketer, see James Goodfellow (cricketer). For people with a similar name, see Jimmy Goodfellow (disambiguation).

James Goodfellow OBE, KCHS, FIIE (born 1937) is a Scottish inventor. In 1966, he patented personal identification number (PIN) technology and an automated teller machine (ATM).^[1][2] He is generally considered the inventor of the modern ATM.^[3][4]

James Goodfellow
Born	1937 (age 85-86) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Nationality	Scottish
Known for	Inventing the PIN and modern ATM

Goodfellow was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire,^[3] where he later attended St Mirin's Academy.^[5] As a 28-year-old development engineer at Kelvin Hughes, 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.^[3][4] The invention received UK Patent No. 1,197,183 with a priority date of 2 May 1966.^[3] In 1967, the world's first ATM was at Barclays Bank in Enfield, north London, which used a rival design by John Shepherd-Barron of De La Rue that accepted cheques impregnated with a radioactive chemical.^[4][6] De La Rue did not patent the design.^[4]

In 2005, Shepherd-Barron was widely reported as the inventor of the cash dispenser after he received an OBE.^[3][4] This compelled Goodfellow to publicize his patent.^[3] "[Shepherd-Barron] invented 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.^[4] Despite being appointed an OBE in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours for his invention of the personal identification number,^[7] Goodfellow has publicly commented on the lack of recognition and compensation for his inventiveness, since PIN codes are ubiquitous today.^[8]

Goodfellow, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame in 2016.^[3] In 2011, BBC Radio Scotland broadcast Goodfellow's oral account of the history of his invention, rebroadcast in 2022.^[9]

See also

• Scottish inventions and discoveries

References

1. UK Patent No.1,197,183 - 2 May 1966.
2. "So whose razor-sharp mind has the edge?". The Scotsman. 15 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
3. "James Goodfellow (born 1937), inventor and first patentor of the automated teller". Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 April 2020. James Goodfellow is now generally accepted as being the inventor of the ATM.
4. Jeffries, Stuart (20 January 2005). "Pins and needle". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2020. Who invented the ATM as we know it? We have to think it was James Goodfellow in Scotland for holding a patent date of 1966.
5. Speirs, Kathleen (2 April 2018). "Banking inventor James Goodfellow OBE goes back to school in Paisley". Scottish Daily Record. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
6. Milligan, Brian (25 June 2007). "The man who invented the cash machine". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
7. "Royal honour for inventor of Pin". BBC. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
8. "How the PIN number was invented". BBC. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
9. "Pioneers - Series 2 - James Goodfellow - BBC Sounds".

External links

• James Goodfellow, entry at the Gazetteer for Scotland
• "Who invented the ATM machine? - The James Goodfellow Story", at atmmachine.com