Self-Service Banking and Mechatronics: The First Twenty Years

Abstract

The past two decades have seen a remarkable increase in the automation of banking operations and financial transactions. A comparative examination of modern automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic banking systems alongside the mechanical machines in use less than half a century ago illustrates how this rapid introduction of advanced technology has been made possible through the interaction of mechanical engineering (especially mechanisms), electronic actuators and sensors, and computer software, an activity which has become known as ‘mechatronics’.