Mastercard opens European tech hub in Dublin

Financial services giant Mastercard has opened its European Technology Hub in Dublin as it sets its sights on doubling its workforce in the Irish capital.

Staff based at the centre, first announced in 2020, will be focused on the development of technologies such as payments security, application programming interfaces and emerging technologies.

Mastercard launched its operations in Dublin in 2008 with 36 staff and once the new hub is fully staffed by 2025, it will increase the company’s Dublin workforce from 975 to 2,000.

“By increasing our global technology footprint, we can be in closer proximity to our customers and stay at the cutting edge of emerging payment technology in support of all our stakeholders,” said Ed McLaughlin, president of Mastercard operations and technology, adding that the hub will serve as an innovation engine.

The tech hub is part of Mastercard’s Future of Work initiative, which focuses on how, where and when employees collaborate. “More than ever, there is a need for flexibility so that employees can more easily manage their work and personal lives, especially during the transition back to in-person work,” said Mastercard.

“New or updated policies have been introduced to help employees reset and strengthen their relationships through the development of new technologies, which bring together the digital and human worlds, so that employees can work collaboratively wherever they are.”

Ken Moore, chief innovation officer at Mastercard, said the hub will have state-of-of the-art facilities and a flexible workstyle. “We want more passionate technologists to join us and continue shaping the digital commerce of tomorrow,” he added.

Mastercard is forging into “digital commerce” beyond payments technology, said Moore. In an interview with Computer Weekly in 2020, he described how the company was using its tech expertise and a business model that saw the firm earn its money from charging very small fees on huge volumes, to extend wider into the digital economy.

He told Computer Weekly at the time: “We are best known for payments, but we are a technology company in commerce and we innovate way beyond the financial transaction to all different points of interaction that a business or a consumer has with a provider of goods or services.”

Tech developments at MasterCard include digital product tracking and identification technologies.

Mastercard’s workforce reflects that of a technology company, with about 80% of its 18,000 employees in tech roles.