Facebook has chosen London as its base for a payment system on WhatsApp, its mobile messaging service confirmed Wednesday, highlighting the capital’s attractiveness as a fintech hub despite Brexit strains.

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The Financial Times said that WhatsApp would hire about 100 staff, with most of the required software engineers based in London but with others employed in Dublin.

"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," the group’s chief operating officer Matt Idema said in an emailed statement to AFP.

Facebook plans to launch WhatsApp’s mobile payments application later this year.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014.

The app is used by more than one billion people, according to the WhatsApp website.

(Source: AFP)