IBM 3624
| Company type | Product |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking technology, Automated teller machines |
| Predecessor | IBM 3614 |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | Los Gatos (development), Charlotte, North Carolina and Havant, England (production) , United States, United Kingdom |
| Products | Automated teller machines (ATM) |
The IBM 3624, introduced in 1978, represented the second generation of automatic teller machine (ATM) technology and succeeded the earlier IBM 3614 model. Developed at IBM's research facility in Los Gatos, production took place in plants located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Havant, England until IBM divested these operations to Diebold during the establishment of the InterBold alliance. Its primary market rivals included the Diebold TABS 9000 and the NCR 5xxx ATM lines.
Versions and features
This ATM was available in eight distinct variants. The most advanced, Version 8, came equipped with a customer interface featuring a six-row by forty-column dot-matrix display, a statement and journal printer capable of four lines with thirty-four characters each, clearly marked function and account buttons, one or two currency cartridges, and an optional deposit module. In contrast, earlier iterations such as Version 2 utilized more limited two-line display panels.
In contrast to contemporary ATM designs, the IBM 3624 required users to insert their cards with the magnetic stripe oriented upwards. Transaction receipts measured roughly three inches square and were generated using IBM’s traditional 96-column punch-card printing technology. For deposit transactions, customers were instructed to include a specialized transaction slip within the deposit envelope to facilitate processing at the back office.
The vault compartment was situated in the upper section of the unit, resulting in a top-heavy configuration that complicated transportation efforts, particularly when navigating stairs. Additionally, its cash cartridge capacity was smaller compared to competing machines available during that era.
Communication on the IBM 3624 was handled via two principal protocols: one allowed direct mainframe connectivity through SDLC links employing IBM’s SNA LU0 protocol; the other involved a start-stop time-division multiplexing (TDM) loop connection to IBM's 3600 and 4700 banking equipment series at a data rate of 1200 bits per second. These communication methods were proprietary and incompatible with protocols used by other ATM manufacturers.
Although ultimately succeeded by the IBM 473x series—which faced challenges due to incompatibility with previous systems—the IBM 3624 established the widely adopted IBM 3624 PIN block standard for securely transmitting encrypted personal identification numbers (PINs). This encryption employed early commercial implementations of the DES algorithm through modules known as BQKPERS and BQKCIPH, which were regulated under United States export control laws.
External links
- Overview of the 3624 protocol from IBM