Float is a pay-it-forward ledger for independent retailers. Customers pre-pay into a business's float. That credit finds someone who needs it.
Someone walks into their local café on a hard week. They have been there a hundred times. Today they can't quite afford it. The person behind the counter knows their name, knows their order, but has no mechanism to help without it feeling like charity.
The regular who was in that morning would have covered it without a second thought - if there was a way to do that. There isn't. Not yet.
Float is built for that moment. A pay-it-forward ledger at the point of sale, funded by regulars, managed by the business. Not an app for the giver's ego. Not a charity. Just a pot that sits there, ready, for when someone needs it.
The desire to help is everywhere. The infrastructure for it is nowhere.
The business already knows who needs a hand. Float gives them a resource to act on that knowledge - quietly, without embarrassment for anyone. The giver never meets the receiver. The app just holds the pot.
A regular taps a QR code. Adds what they feel like. No account, no friction. They go about their day. The pot grows.
The barista knows who has been struggling. The float gives them something to act on - no policy, no form, just discretion.
The giver gets a single notification. No names. Just the quiet certainty that it went somewhere it was needed.
These are the working screens, running in demo mode. Top up on the counter till, or watch a shop's public pot page breathe.
Float references Sunday's philosophy - payment flows that feel natural rather than transactional. But where Sunday is hospitality-warm, Float is civic-direct. It should feel like something a credit union would build if it had good designers.
A variable-width display sans that can stretch from ultra-condensed to wide. The mix of heavy and thin within the same typeface mirrors the mix of givers and receivers - same community, different circumstances.
No forest green. No terracotta. No cream warmth that signals "artisan." A near-white page with dark ink type is direct and clear - a ledger, not a mood board. The single blue accent signals trust without defaulting to banking.
Space Mono for all numerical data - monospaced precision that makes a balance feel like a statement of record. Credits and debits. The simplicity is the argument for trust.
Givers see "redeemed by a stranger." Removing the receiver's identity eliminates any shame or transaction-feeling from the redemption. The business holds that relationship, not the app.
Float takes a small transaction fee on top-ups. The business pays nothing. The contributor pays a marginal premium on generosity - which most people accept willingly when the purpose is clear.
1.5-2.5% on each top-up on top of Stripe processing. At £80k/month in float activity across a city network, this becomes meaningful revenue without extracting from the recipient.
Businesses pay a small monthly fee for analytics - contributor trends, redemption patterns, float velocity. Entirely optional. The core product is free to run.
Local authorities seed floats in high-deprivation areas - paying a lump sum into a business's float on behalf of the community. Float handles distribution.
As the network grows, float credits could become transferable across businesses. The long-term play is a trusted local commerce network with social purpose at its core.
A single active float at one café, with ten regular contributors at £10/month, creates a meaningful local resource. At scale it becomes something structural.
| Scenario | Contributors | Monthly float | Redemptions/mo | Annual value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single café, active | 10 regulars | £100 | ~28 coffees | £1,200 |
| Single café, thriving | 40 regulars | £400 | ~110 coffees | £4,800 |
| High street, 10 businesses | 200 regulars | £2,000 | ~550 items | £24,000 |
| City network, 500 businesses | 8,000 regulars | £80k | ~22,000 items | £960,000 |
Float doesn't disrupt independent retail. It gives it a nervous system.
Tell us a little about your shop and we'll set you up. No commitment - have a look at the live screens first if you like.