Oki’s cash-recycling ATM receives information processing tech heritage certification

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Oki Electric Corp announced Thursday that it has won Information Processing Technology Heritage certification from the Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ) for its AT-100 cash-recycling ATM, launched in 1982 as the world’s first cash-recycling ATM.

A cash-recycling ATM is an automated teller machine that allows the deposited banknote to be dispensed. The certification recognizes the historical significance of the AT-100 as a product built on seminal information processing technology.

Before the AT-100, Japanese ATMs were composed of independent deposit and dispensing units. Thus, once the deposit unit reached its capacity or the dispensing unit ran out of banknotes, the entire ATM was removed from service until each unit was emptied or replenished. The challenge, then, was to make the most effective use of the banknotes in the ATM.

Oki’s solution was the AT-100, the world’s first machine capable of recycling banknotes. Making this recycling technology commercially viable required cutting-edgentechnologies in the areas of hardware mechanisms, controls, and software, asnwell as high-quality manufacturing technologies. The AT-100 sparked a rapidnevolution of mechatronics technologies in Japan.

“Since the appearance of the AT-100, the cash-recycling ATM entered the mainstream in Japan realizing around-the-clock cash-handling services, and became part of the essential infrastructure of the Japanese economy,” said Seiji Mouri, Executive Officer and General Manager of Oki’s Systems Hardware Business Division. “In recent years, Oki’s ATMs have influenced the industry to deliver cutting-edge technologies not just in Japan, but worldwide, including China.”

Hosted by IPSJ, the Information Processing Technology Heritage program certifies historical products and achievements that helped establish the foundations of Japan’s information processing technologies and contributed significantly to Japan’s society and economy. Through the certification program, IPSJ strives to broaden public awareness of this heritage of groundbreaking technologies for both research and education.