- Title: UAE: First gold-dispensing ATM working in Abu Dhabi
- Date: 17th May 2010
- Summary: ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (MAY 15, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF EMIRATES PALACE HOTEL WHERE GOLD ATM HAS BEEN INSTALLED INTERIOR OF HOTEL HALL WHERE GOLD ATM HAS BEEN SET UP VARIOUS OF MACHINE NAMED "GOLD TO GO" VARIOUS OF FAMILY WITH CHILD LOOKING AT GOLD ATM (SOUNBITE) (English) CREATOR OF "GOLD TO GO" BRAND, THOMAS GEISSLER, SAYING: "When you buy wit
- Embargoed: 1st June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA5ES0K1MBGQ7PWE298SAVQBD4I
- Story Text: It's the ultimate hole-in-the-wall - a money machine that dispenses pure gold. But installed beneath the gold-coated ceilings of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel, where royalty and billionaires come for cappuccinos topped with gold flakes, the new machine almost seemed part of the furniture on Saturday (May 15).
German entrepreneur Thomas Geissler is in Abu Dhabi to market his new invention. His company Ex Oriente Lux trades in valuable metals and he explained the advantages of his machine over buying from the many gold souks, or markets, in the United Arab Emirates.
"When you buy with our machine you have always the last prices from Gold markets on a 24 hour basis. You can check this, either by your I-Phone, or you can look at the screen on top of the machine and then you can control the prices, it's the first thing. We have [a] guarantee every bar coming out is of 24 carat. It's German gold or Swiss gold. And the third thing why you should buy with us, you have a money back guarantee. If you don't like the article you have bought, either by shape or by price, you just sell it back within ten days."
The exterior of the machine is coated with a thin layer of gold and offers customers 320 items to choose from, ranging from gold bars that can weigh up to 10 grams, to customised gold coins.
Through a computer system, the ATM gold machine updates the gold price every 10 minutes to match international markets.
For now, it takes notes of the local dirham currency, but the option of using credit cards will soon be introduced.
A few days on from when it was first unveiled on Wednesday (May 12), the machine was getting much attention from visitors and guests at the hotel. Some were simply curious, others wanted to buy the gold.
"I don't know about the practicality of it but it's something cool, it's nice. But if a person comes here wanting gold, I mean, if they want a souvenir then yes, why not," said John Haddad who resides in Abu Dhabi.
"It's nice as a souvenir, it's a nice idea and it's nice that it's in an Arabic country," added John's sister, Farah Haddad, who is visiting the UAE capital from Syria.
"It's a good idea; instead of going down to the gold souk and waste time trying to find parking, it's easier to just by it from here," said another visitor.
Emirati businessman Mohamed Al-Foulathi helped lobby to bring the invention to the UAE. He noticed that high gold prices did not seem to deter customers from using the machine to buy gold products.
"I noticed in the past two to three days that people don't really notice the change in price. The first day it was unveiled gold prices were very high but people still bought, they are enthusiastic because this is something new and they like to buy it. People are used to buying beverages and sweets from vending machines but for them this is the first time they can buy gold from an ATM machine."
Geissler declined to comment on how much money the machine took in since its unveiling.
The cash-for-gold machines were first tested in Germany in 2009, but Geissler chose Abu Dhabi for the official launch of his invention because of the region's high demand for gold.
Geissler's timing is spot-on, as investors flock to gold as a safe haven from economic turbulence.
Germany, Italy, Russia and Dubai are amongst a host of other countries Geissler is looking to take his invention to. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None