Mark Hurd, CEO of US-based NCR Corporation made a forecast during his visit in Beijing recently that China would become the world's largest market for ATM machines by 2007. He said there were 50,000 ATM machines in China while the figure was 324,000 in the US.

In China every 1 million users share merely 42 ATM machines while 1250 ATM machines are available to every 1 million users in the US, said Mr. Hurd. Now the world average is 204 ATM machines for 1 million people. The figure in China's Hong Kong SAR is about 410 and 652 in Taiwan Province.

It is introduced that the ATM machine can be dated back to 1879 when a restaurant owner invented an automated cashier's machine in Dayton, Ohio. If this is true, then it was in 1887 that NCR made its debut in China, when they sold this machine to a Chinese businessman surnamed Sun.

In 1980, NCR's interconnected ATM machines were first installed in Shenzhen and Zhuhai Branches of the Bank of China, which were the first ATM machines used in China.

To meet the needs of the Chinese market, NCR (Beijing) Financial Equipment System Co Ltd, a joint venture of NCR and Beijing C & W Electronics Group, was put into operation in 1999. Two years later this enterprise extended its business to the whole Asia-Pacific region.

In some other countries and areas around the world, ATM machines offer services beyond deposits withdrawal to sales of concert and movie tickets and stamps, as well as pre-payment services for mobile users. Even public offering can be done through ATM network.

Given this, Mr. Hurd has every reason to conclude that NCR's venture into the Chinese market has just begun.

(People's Daily March 14, 2004)