In 1999 the UK cash machine network LINK opened membership to so-called independent cash machine operators (IADs); organisations which do not issue cards. IADs initially focused on the pay-to-use market, where the customer covers the cost of the transaction directly and this, coupled with a low-cost business model, meant that the number of pay-to-use cash machines rose rapidly, peaking in 2007 at just over 27,000 cash machines.[15]