The History of the Swedish ATM: Sparframjandet and Metior

摘要

In this paper, we describe the first decades of the history of the Swedish Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Sweden was one of the pioneers in using ATMs, starting with cash dispensers or cash machines in 1967. The first machine was made operational and shown to the press on 6 July 1967 in Uppsala at Upsala Sparbank, only one week after the first cash machine in the world was made operational in the UK. The Malmo-based company Metior manufactured the Swedish machine. This paper seeks to document the origins and the early development of cash machines by Swedish savings banks, employing oral as well as archival sources. Interestingly, we find that the key actor behind the ATM technology was not Spadab, the computer company of the saving banks, but Sparframjandet, a company most well known for its campaigns to encourage thrift among children.