The ATM (Automated Teller Machine) is 50 years old today and, to celebrate, here are twelve things you (probably) didn't know about the hole in the wall.

:: The first ATM was unveiled at a branch of Barclays in Enfield in north London on 27 June 1967.

Image: Barclaycash was the UK's first automated cash point

:: Actor Reg Varney, star of TV sitcom On The Buses, was the first person to use the new machine.

:: As of 2015 there were 70,270 cash points in the UK, more than 52,000 of which were free to use.

:: Since the 1980s most of these have been connected to the Link network, giving us access to cash nationwide.


Image: If you've got to go, you've got to go. These riders need an emergency withdrawal at the Tour de France in Yorkshire in 2014

:: Currently there are around 176.4m UK held debit and credit cards which can be used in cash points.

:: 48 million of us use cash machines and 89% use them at least once a month.

:: In 2015 the amount of average withdrawal was £69.

Image: This London cash point was painted by the artist Banksy in 2007

:: In 2016 approximately £179.78bn was withdrawn from ATM's in the UK.

:: On average each cash machine dispensed £7,576 per day in 2015 - and that figure is on an upward trend.

:: The daily record for cash withdrawals was £730m, which was set on 23 December 2016.

Image: Nearly half of all cash points are in supermarkets, shops or shopping centres

:: 46% of cash machines are in supermarkets, shops and shopping centres, 27% are in banks and 4% in Post Offices.

:: Cash machines have had a good 50 years, but they may not have another 50 left. Debit cards are expected to surpass cash as the most popular form of payment as soon as 2018.