MasterCard, Visa Halt WikiLeaks Payments

MasterCard and Visa Europe confirmed Tuesday that they will block payments to WikiLeaks.

"MasterCard is currently in the process of working to suspend the acceptance of MasterCard cards on WikiLeaks until the situation is resolved," the company said in a statement.

Visa Europe, a separate and independently operated company from Visa Inc., will do the same. "Visa Europe has taken action to suspend Visa payment acceptance on WikiLeaks' Web site pending further investigation into the nature of its business and whether it contravenes Visa operating rules," the company said in a statement.

At this point, the WikiLeaks donation Web site still lists MasterCard and Visa as viable options for donating via credit card. Datacell Switzerland serves as the site's credit card processing partner. Supporters can also donate via a bank transfer to Germany or Iceland, where WikiLeaks has public bank accounts, or send funds via snail mail.

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange announced Monday that the Swiss Bank Post Finance has frozen his defense fund and personal assets, and designated him as a "high profile" individual. WikiLeaks and Assange lost $100,000 euro in assets, he said.

"The technicality used to seize the defense fund was that Mr. Assange, as a homeless refugee attempting to gain residency in Switzerland, had used his lawyers address in Geneva for the bank's correspondence," Assange said in a press release.

Last week, PayPal also permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks "due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity," the company said. Assange said that move resulted in WikiLeaks losing another $60,000 euro.

One thing Assange can't use his funds for is bail. On Tuesday, he was arrested in London on charges of rape. He was denied bail and will remain in custody until at least December 14.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:15pm Eastern time with comment from Visa Europe.

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Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

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I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

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Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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