Social media behemoth Facebook has picked London as the hub for the development of its WhatsApp mobile payment feature, the Financial Times has reported.
WhatsApp is popular in the UK as well as other countries such as India.
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WhatsApp intends to hire around 100 software engineers to develop the payment feature.
Majority of the newly-appointed staff will operate out of London, with the remainder based in Dublin.
These employees will be tasked with developing the payments feature while addressing safety and spam concerns.
WhatsApp COO Matt Idema said: “We’re eager to work with some of the best technical and operational experts in both London and Dublin to take WhatsApp into its second decade.
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By GlobalData“WhatsApp is a truly global service and these teams will help us provide WhatsApp payments and other great features for our users everywhere.”
In 2014, Facebook acquired messaging platform WhatsApp that currently has a user base of 1.5 billion across the world.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to roll out WhatsApp mobile payments in various countries this year.
“I believe it should be as easy to send money to someone as it is to send a photo,” Zuckerberg noted.
The payment feature has already been tested in India.
However, its launch in the country is being delayed owing to regulatory hurdles.
