David B. Lipkin, longtime Phila. lawyer

David B. Lipkin, 70, of Oceanside, Calif., a longtime Philadelphia lawyer who helped develop the MAC system for banking, died Wednesday, Jan. 1, of congestive heart failure at Tri City Medical Center in Oceanside.

Mr. Lipkin was a lawyer for Philadelphia National Bank, later CoreStates Bank, at a time when the automatic teller machine was being created.

He was chief legal counsel for the Money Access Service, former operator of the MAC Network. It eventually became the Star Network.

"He was one of the top guys who wrote all of the legal paperwork with the feds to make that happen way back when," said his stepson, Marc Pujol. "The work they did grew into what everyone relies on today - the ATM systems we can't live without."

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Lipkin attended Central High School. The Lipkin family owned Gold Medal Bakery and Kaplan's Bakery, both of which supplied food outlets in the Philadelphia area for decades.

Mr. Lipkin graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown and Temple Law Schools. He worked in Philadelphia for most of his 47-year career.

He served from 1978 to 1992 as legal counsel and then deputy chief counsel at Philadelphia National, which became CoreStates during his tenure.

While employed by Electronic Payment Services Inc. from 1992 to 1996, Mr. Lipkin served as lead counsel in forming major electronic funds-transfer networks.

He was staff counsel for Drinker, Biddle & Reath from 1996 to 2001.

Mr. Lipkin's specialties were corporate and business law, and emerging e-commerce services. He handled joint ventures, acquisitions, divestitures, and business-financing transactions.

He also handled regulatory cases involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

During the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr. Lipkin was a consultant to the Central Bank of Russia, educating the bank on plastic card systems and use of stored value systems in lieu of currency.

While he worked in Philadelphia, Mr. Lipkin and his wife, the former Irene Grabowich Pujol, lived in Bala Cynwyd. In 2003, the two moved to Palm Springs, Calif., from which he did consulting for start-up firms across the nation. In 2009, the couple moved to Oceanside to be closer to family.

A larger-than-life personality, Mr. Lipkin was funny and optimistic. He was loyal to friends and a faithful follower of the Eagles, Flyers, 76ers, and Phillies.

"David was the ultimate Phillies fan, had season tickets for many, many years, and twice attended their baseball 'Dream Week Camp' at their spring training headquarters in Florida," his wife said.

Surviving, besides his stepson and wife of 33 years, are a daughter, Steffanie Lipkin Rupp; two grandchildren; and his former wife, Barbara Shechtman.

Services were Friday, Jan. 3.

Donations in his honor may be made to the Associated Alumni of Central High School in Philadelphia via www.centralhighalumni.com/ or the Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia via www.jfcsphilly.org/about-us/about-us/.