Payments provider Mastercard will be expanding its innovation center in Ireland with the creation of 175 new technology positions, the company announced today.

Mastercard is looking to fill a variety of roles at the center, located in Leopardstown in County Dublin. These roles include blockchain specialists, data scientists, software engineers, and security experts, among other categories. The new hires will focus on developing new digital payment solutions for the company, which already has over 200 employees at its Dublin center.

Mastercard’s Irish lab is devoted to digital payments such as it QKR app, used by such brands as Wagamama and Ask Italian in the United Kingdom.

Ken Moore, executive vice-president and head of Mastercard Labs, said in a statement:

Ireland is the heart of our global innovation efforts. Throughout Mastercard, Dublin is admired as a key technology hub. We’re looking to replicate the innovation culture we’ve fostered here in our offices around the world.

The company will also be focusing its innovation efforts on areas such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, both of which could profoundly influence payments and banking over the next few years.

Read more at the Irish Times and Finextra.