A beautiful example of APPLIED FAITH

Today, I am going to share an interesting story of how having the quality of Faith has played an important role in the evolution of ATMs.

In 1975, John Reed, CEO of Citibank was operating on Applied Faith. He knew he was right, though he didn’t know why. Fortunately, Reed’s boss was also a believer in the possibilities that technology could bring to banking. So in 1975, his boss agreed to sink an eye-popping $100 million into Reed’s plan. Two years later, the bank went public with it. Then, virtually overnight, Citibank dotted the Big Apple with a network of more than 400 automatic teller machines.

No one knew if bank customers would forgo dealing with a live teller. But John Reed’s boss was impatient to get Citibank’s consumer business growing. The demand deposits in the city of New York had not grown in ten years. It was perfectly clear that something had to be done.

The gamble paid off with a little help from above! In early 1979, New York City was walloped with more than three feet of snow. Within three days, a commercial ran showing New Yorkers trekking through the snow to Citibank ATMs.

Thus the catchphrase – ‘THE CITI NEVER SLEEPS’ – was born.

The use of the machines soared. By 1981, Citi’s share of New York deposits had doubled. Rivals stopped snickering about Citi’s ‘soulless machines’ and started to get with the program. Today, of course, getting money in Paris from your bank account in Portland seems as mundane as traffic lights. But when you think about it, it’s just extraordinary. Machines, everywhere, that give you money.

Now pause for a moment and think about this story. Use this story as a memory hook for you to check your applied faith towards your goals when you are using an ATM or doing an online transaction. 

Thank You.

Regards,

Sidharth Shah.