What does the acronym 'ATM' stand for in banking?

In banking, ATM stands for automated teller machine.

An ATM is an electronic banking terminal that lets customers perform routine transactions without a human teller. Depending on the machine and the bank, users can withdraw cash, check balances, transfer funds, deposit money, change a personal identification number, or receive account information.

The first widely recognized cash machine was installed by Barclays in Enfield, London, in 1967. Early machines commonly used special vouchers or paper tokens; modern ATMs generally identify customers through a bank card and PIN, then communicate electronically with the bank’s systems.

“ATM” is sometimes expanded incorrectly as “automatic transaction machine” or “automatic transfer machine.” Those phrases describe possible functions but are not the standard meaning. An ATM is also not the same as a point-of-sale terminal: a POS device processes a purchase at a merchant, while an ATM is designed primarily for self-service banking.