In downtown Cairo, passersby still stop in front of a small iron box engraved with “Night Safe” embedded in the wall of a Bank of Egypt branch. Many think it is a strange relic or leftover from an old era, but in fact, it was the first idea of a deposit and withdrawal machine similar to an ATM in Egypt.

Al-Youm Al-Sabea TV camera captured the story dating back to Talaat Harb, the founder of Bank of Egypt and the “Father of the Egyptian Economy,” who invented the “Night Safe” concept in the 1990s after noticing customers’ need to deposit money at night when banks closed at sunset. The safe was manufactured in London and brought to Egypt, making Bank of Egypt the first to implement this experiment.

The Night Safe did not allow withdrawals but was dedicated only to deposits; the bank gave special keys to its customers to place their money inside an envelope marked with their name and account number, which they inserted through a cylinder connected to a safe inside the wall. In the morning, a committee of bank employees would open the safe and record the deposits, turning this idea into a brilliant solution ahead of its time.