Ever think about investing in gold? No need for you to stop by your local bank. Instead, now you can buy gold from a gold dispensing vending machine. Yes, you heard that right. Also called a bullion ATM, this almost 6 foot tall (and extremely heavy!) vending machine is stocked with 24 karat gold bars in 1 gram, 5 gram and 10 gram offerings, all ready for you to buy. If you’d prefer investing in gold coins vs. gold bars, no worries. That’s an option, too.

The first place to host this quite impressive gold dispensing vending machine

is the Emirates Palace Hotel, located in Abu Dhabi. Makes sense. A German company initially came up with the idea, and are now happy to boast that they’re the first ones to install a gold vending machine into this fine hotel’s lobby. Their mission? Besides making a profit? They aim to provide guests with the option to buy a (really nice!) gift or souvenir during their hotel stay.

gold vending machine

So it’s not only gold investors who are buying gold bars and/or gold coins from vending machines. Everyday people who are wanting unique gifts or souvenirs are using them, too.

The official name of this Abu Dhabi based bullion dispensing ATM machine is appropriately called Gold To Go, a simple yet to the point name that will surely catch the eye of anyone passing by. Because Gold To Go vending machines are proving to be quite popular so far, they’re looking to expand to other worldly locations, like Europe and the United States.

This somewhat of a novelty vending machine caught the attention of PMX Gold Bullion’s managing director M. Kott,

who decided it was a good idea for them to create and build their own gold dispensing vending machine. Why not, right? Extremely similar to the first model of Gold To Go, this new bullion vending machine can be found in the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton as PMX Gold. The PMX Gold dispensing machine is expected to do so well, plans are already in place to add an additional dozen or so machines to other US malls, for everyone’s shopping convenience, of course.

Now shoppers can add buying gold bars to their mall shopping list… I’ll take 2, please.

Looks like buying gold from a vending machine is quite popular, as Singapore is the latest city to add gold dispensing vending machines to their venue. Smart Gold machines are now set up in some of their top resorts and hotels. Why Singapore? Because according to the director of Asia Gold ATM Kong Chee, this Asian city is well known as a finance trading center. What makes the Smart Gold ATMs a little different it is that they also dispense silver bars and have the ability to customize gold coins. Pretty cool, right?

If you’re wondering if buying gold from a vending machine is going to cost you more money, maybe just a little as you’re paying for pure convenience. All you need to do is access the large touch screen (that offers a number of gold buying choices), make your selection, insert your cash, debit card, or credit card, and tada! You are now the proud owner of gold.

If you’re wondering how secure these gold vending machines are, security measures include using cameras and RFID tags to keep an eye on the gold, with additional cameras in place as well as a scanner in order to avoid possible money laundering.