I thought that Visa and Mastercard enable cardholders to shop around the world and pay  at point of sale with the card issued. This both in face to face merchant outlets and in e commerce. So if wikileaks is claiming unlawful blocade my question is- what are they selling?  Do they have a physical store or an e commerce sales outfit? If it is donations - then it looks more like credit transfers and this is not really the business of Visa and Mastercard but bank services like swift. Also anti money laundry and know your customer requirements are different for credit transfers than for card payments. So can anybody give clarity here - what is wikileaks selling? If they are not selling anything, why have they had a card acceptance agreement? Or is it somebody else that has had a card acceptance agreement on their behalf?

We accept checks or money orders, or you can charge your donation om MastrCard or Visa. Donations to the American Red Cross.

Ku Klux Klan KKK accept donations via Visa or Mastercard.

I would ask WTF are they selling?

Seems an emotional argument to me, not found on rationale. A sure as the sun rises Visa, Mastercard & Paypal will be funding wikileaks for years to come.

Dear Dean,

two wrongs does not make one right. The fact that one may pay money to kukluxklan or red cross with a visa or mastercard does make it right.  An acquirer bank has probably violated a number of card scheme rules and most probably also regulatory rules. The world is full of breach of practices but not everybody get caught. When I read my card terms and conditions, I have permission to pay for goods and services and draw cash with my card. I cannot find credit transfer in there. Visa and Mastercard should also stop the other "credit transfer" users. May be you can ask your financial services authority if these transactions meet the know your customer and anti money laundry requirements? From your comment I see that you admit that Wikileaks is not selling anything - just collecting money.