In most busy cities and towns today, you can find automated teller machines, or ATMs, on practically every block. An ATM is an electronic communications device that allows bank customers to perform financial transactions without needing to talk to a human bank clerk. The first modern automated banking machine was developed in (1) 1969, by a Dallas engineer named Donald Wetzel. Wetzel’s machine used plastic cards like the ones we use today. It was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, when more of the population (2) had became comfortable with the idea of (3) automated technology, that automated banking machines became truly popular. Some say that it took a good old-fashioned New York blizzard to truly make ATMs a permanent institution in American life. In 1977, the chairman of Citibank spent over $100 million dollars to install ATMs (4) all over New York City, hoping they would be a success. The following winter, a blizzard shut down banks in the city for days, and ATM usage suddenly increased by 20 percent. This blizzard also launched Citibank’s long-running “The Citi Never Sleeps” campaign, (5) with posters and billboards showing customers trudging through snow drifts to get to Citibank ATMs. After Citibank’s success, other banks followed suit, and ATMs popped up in every major city in the world. 0