70 Years of ATM Innovation

Still Struggling To Make Them Scam Proof

by Idris Mootee

It is all about the human factors.

I find that people are over-concerned with online security every time there is a piece of news about identity theft on TV. It is really not that bad and we need to accept the fact that it will not go away. Whatever security mechanism being put can fix one hole but usually create another hole. Let me take the example of the ATM, it is a very mature technology (probably about 30 years). Not many people know the first mechanical cash dispenser was developed and built by Luther George Simjian and installed in 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance. No customer wanted to get money from a machine. It was a failed innovation.

I remember the one ATM card (Standard Chartered Bank) I used. Every time I used it the machine will eat the card and mail it back to me. I'm not sure what security design reason caused the behavior. So I can only use it once until they send it back in two days. It is designed to prevent fraud.

30 years later, there are still many ATM scams. Japan is still trying to figure out a way to stamp out ATM frauds. Chiba Bank has installed phone signal jammers at four unnamed ATMs at bank branches in the Tokyo region, I am not sure what exactly the criminals were able to convince people to do via mobile. I think there is too many cases criminals instruct victims to withdraw cash from the ATM through the cell phone. The often target the elderly, often telephoned by perpetrators claiming to be relatives and in need of some emergency funds. A new innovation is Aichi Bank is now ATMs will now no longer allow consumers to complete the transaction until they hang up. So you cannot be talking to your friends while getting your money.

How does it work? A metallic film around the ATM will block access if it detects mobile phone waves. Essentially ATMs will become out of range for mobiles. Not only might this prevent the criminals from relating their information, it also helps to provide a break for the consumer to think carefully about the transaction.

While others are jamming cell phones, BT Broadband is converting 2,500 ATM machines to serve as free Wi-Fi hotspots. And for some places like Tibet, people are blessed (literally) with money with their ATM withdrawals. A relatively new addition to Lhasa's old city urban infrastructure an ATM machine - including the red pasted duilian - effectively blessing every transaction that passes through this machine. It is a way to making money clean (legally). Here's another real customer unmet need.

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Idris Mootee is the CEO of idea couture, a strategic innovation and experience design firm. He is the author of four books, tens of published articles, and a frequent speaker at business conferences and executive retreats.

An Internet Innovation

by Drew Boyd

Imagine a Web site that detects a visitor's "thinking" style and "morphs" its look and feel to suit that visitor's style? Professor Glen Urban and his colleagues at M.I.T. describe an approach in the Sloan Management Review article, "Morph the Web To Build Empathy, Trust and Sales."

They collaborated with BT Group, a UK telecom company, to create a Web site that learns whether a person is more analytical versus holistic, and whether the person is more visual versus verbal in how they process information. Once the Web site learns this (based on a few preliminary clicks on the site), it adapts itself to present information in an optimal way:



This is an excellent example of the Attribute Dependency Template, one of five templates in the Systematic Inventive Thinking method of innovation. Attribute Dependency takes internal and external attributes of a product or service and combines them to create new dependencies (or break existing dependencies). With Web site morphing, for example, the two attributes that have been linked are:

• Web site appearance (an internal attribute)


• Visitor's Cognitive Style (an external attribute)

Dependencies can be passive, active, or adaptive. Passive dependencies are static - they don't change once they have been established. Active dependencies are dynamic - an attribute changes only when another one changes. Adaptive dependencies change the way they change. In other words, they learn as they go. Attribute Dependency is a great tool for creating "smart" products - those that know and adapt to user preferences or environmental conditions.

Does Web site morphing work? The MIT researchers report that Web-originated purchase intentions for BT's broadband service could increase 20% after morphing the site to match individual cognitive styles.

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Drew Boyd is Director of Marketing Mastery for Johnson & Johnson (Ethicon Endo-Surgery division). He is also Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing and Innovation at the University of Cincinnati and Executive Director of the MS-Marketing program. Follow him at www.innovationinpractice.com and at http://twitter.com/drewboyd

incentive2innovate - Peter Diamandis and Matt Bross

Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman/CEO of Xprize Foundation kicked off the incentive2innovate conference at the United Nations with the promise that incentivized innovation and open innovation would be the focus for the two days of the conference.

Incentivized innovation is not just about winning the prize, but about driving innovation beyond the goal of the contest - beyond the attainment of that goal to create tangible benefits for society.

Dr. Diamandis talked about how the teams spent $100+ million competing to win the original $10 million Xprize, and about how over $1 billion has been invested in the private space industry (thanks in part to the $10 million Xprize). They then showed an Xprize video.

Matt Bross, CEO of BT Innovate took the stage and talked about how commercial success and corporate social responsibility are no longer in conflict. He then went on talk about how it is difficult for us as a people to grasp that the 10x improvements that are occurring now, and how these improvements actually increase the sphere of innovation possibilities. Matt Bross likes to call what is going on now an "Innovation Big Bang."

BT invests $1 Billion in R&D and used to spend that internally, but now they are looking beyond the boundaries of their own payroll. At the same time, BT has added internal incentives of up to GBP 30,000 to unleash hundreds of million of dollars of cost reductions and product ideas from their employees.

Matt Bross then closed by talking about how when we look at the reality of most people in the world, it is far different from what most of us would think - 70% of the world's population can't read. If innovation can come from anywhere, how much innovation potential are we losing out on if 70% of the world can't read?

NOTE: I'm not sure about these numbers - a quick Bing search showed figures of around 1 Billion adults (~26%), but the point is still valid no matter what.


What do you think?


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)

Video Interview with BT Americas' Neil Blakesley

I had the opportunity to interview Neil Blakesley of BT Americas at the incentive2innovate conference this week at the United Nations in New York City. You can see the video interview here:



Here are the questions I asked him:

1. What do you see as the most exciting innovation in telecommunications to reach businesses in the next 12-18 months?


2. What have been some of the greatest successes that BT has had outside of the UK and how did innovation play a role?


3. What do you feel is unique about BT's approach to collaboration and innovation?


4. Do you feel that incentives have a real impact in stimulating innovation?

The biggest takeaway for me was that even if you design the greatest approach to internal or external open innovation ever seen by mankind, it will still be important to try and keep it fresh for people so that participation can be sustained.


What do you think?


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)