For a lesson in technological reform, look no further than our banks. It started with the ATM.
Beginning in the late 1960s and accelerating through the 1980s and 1990s, this shift produced substantial benefits for banks. Surprisingly, it preserved employment.
Barclays Bank installed the world's first commercial ATM in London in 1967. Chemical Bank followed in New York in 1969, advertising their bank would "open at 9 and never close again".
Australia's first cash machine arrived in 1969 - dispensing just $25 before swallowing your card and mailing it back later.
The real breakthrough came in 1977. A credit union, not one of the major banks, installed Australia's first fully-fledged computerised ATM in Brisbane. Banks closed at 3pm on weekdays then. Cash was essential for most purchases. After-hours access was revolutionary.
The major banks caught up fast. By 1984, Westpac partnered with Canadian firm Netron to build the CS90system, the most advanced in the world.
By 2017, Australia had 32,275ATMs - over 1,300 per million people. Higher density than the US, UK, France, and Germany. ATMs first outnumbered bank branches in 1996, marking a fundamental shift in service delivery.
The most compelling benefit? Lower per-transaction costs. The Reserve Bank's 2007 analysis revealed an ATM cash withdrawal cost $0.86, compared to several dollars for a human teller.
Despite massive ATM deployment, US bank teller employment actually increased from 485,000 in 1985to 527,000 in 2002, even as ATMs grew from 60,000 to 352,000. Increased branch density more than offset reduced teller counts per branch. Technology reduced per-unit labour requirements while expanding overall employment through market growth.
The ATM revolution fundamentally transformed banking from expensive physical infrastructure and labour-intensive transactions to technology-leveraged routine operations. The evidence, globally and in Australia specifically?
• Transaction costs fell 66 - 75%
• Branch staffing dropped 35%
• System-wide operating costs decreased up to 37%
Trailing the banks by 50 years, strata has yet to see our first ASM (Automatic Strata Machines). The banks of course, have bigger markets and margins to work with, but 50 years later the technology for ASMs is within our reach. The benefits are obvious: higher customer satisfaction from speedy outcomes, lower operating costs, sustainable profit margins. Paradoxically, the banks' experience demonstrates reform without staff reductions.
But perhaps the best benefit? The reduction in email traffic. Monday mornings might no longer be like this -
Michael Teys advises strata management businesses on improving profitability through professionalisation and streamlined operating systems.
He has more than 30 years’ experience as a strata lawyer and academic and has owned 11 strata management agencies throughout Australia. He has a Master of Philosophy (Built Environment) and Bachelor of Laws. He lectures and writes widely about strata management issues in Australia and internationally.
