They live to serve we only really notice them when we can’t seem to locate one.īut in recent years, the ATM no longer does something that no other machine or outlet can do and its days, some say, are numbered. Automated teller machines, better known as ATMs, have been a part of the American landscape since the 1970s-beacons of self-service and convenience, they revolutionized banking in ways we take for granted today.