Social media giant Facebook is to develop payments on its WhatsApp messaging service in Dublin and London.

WhatsApp is set to expand its workforce by hiring around 100 people across both offices this year.

It is believed most of the software engineers will be hired in London, with additional operations staff to be hired in Dublin.

Matt Idema is WhatsApp's chief operating officer.

In a statement, he 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".

"WhatsApp is a truly global service and these teams will help us provide WhatsApp payments and other great features for our users everywhere."

Some of WhatsApp's original employees, before the Facebook acquisition, have moved to Europe to lead these teams.

Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin | Image: Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA Images

Over 450 million people use WhatsApp each month - with 70% of those people active on a given day.

Facebook acquired WhatsApp back in January 2014 for approximately US$16bn (€14.2bn).

The social media site announced last November that it was expanding its Dublin presence, with the potential to add 5,000 jobs.

It acquired a long-term lease of 14 acres for a new development at the Bank Centre in Dublin 4, currently occupied by AIB.

Facebook's international headquarters is in Dublin's Grand Canal Square.

It also has operations in the Samuel Beckett Building, a data centre in Meath and Facebook Reality Labs in Cork.

There are over 4,000 people working for Facebook here across its four locations.