It began with a tip that was never left.

We were on holiday, and one day we went down to the hotel restaurant without our phones or a wallet. The person who looked after us was wonderful, so kind that we really wanted to give something back.

We had nothing on us but a thank-you. Never mind, we thought. Next time.

Next time never came. We didn't see that person again.

The guilt stayed with me, and it made me start thinking about how to keep a moment like that from slipping away.

Thanks with nowhere to go

Online, there are plenty of tools for supporting a creator. In the physical world, where so many people look after us every day, there is almost nothing.

QR codes exist, but they aren't kind to the person using them. You need your phone in your hand at the exact moment the code is in front of you. Miss that moment and the chance is gone.

Where the magic comes from

The idea came from a service that gives any spot on a map an address made of three words. It seemed very sensible to me, and it made me wonder whether words could identify people too: a safe marker, tied to who you are.

Words live everywhere. You can write them, say them, sing them, whisper them or shout them. You can wear them on a T-shirt or put them in your email signature. Anyone who carries their words can be reached, and you can remember them long after you've left.

Why 2 words

So I looked at how many words would work best, and the answer was two. Two are easy to remember, each extra word makes the combination much harder, and there are enough words to make pairs for millions of people.

A thank-you that fits your budget

That solved reaching people. The second part mattered just as much to me. It can feel as if the world keeps moving in the wrong direction, greyer and more isolated, and since Covid I feel that gratitude and recognising each other have been fading. Yet these are the things that make us human and bring us closer instead of further apart.

Sometimes a plain “thank you” isn't enough and you want to do more, but there's no easy way to, and no one wants to worry about what it will cost. So LoveTaps work from a monthly pool. You choose the amount and never go over it. You thank whoever you like, and at the end of the month your pool is shared between them. A month with no thank-yous costs nothing.