Bank Of America Will Stop Processing WikiLeaks Payments, WikiLeaks Responds On Twitter

Bank of America announced it will stop handling transactions for WikiLeaks, the controversial non-profit group that has published secret government data and communications.

In a tense response posted on Twitter late last night WikiLeaks urged customers to stop doing business with the bank and suggested the consumers could find safer places to put their money. See WikiLeaks' Twitter response below:

According to the AP: "The bank said in a statement that it believes that site 'may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments.' It joins financial institutions including MasterCard and PayPal that have stopped handling payments for the site."

In a cover story published last month in Forbes, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was recently released from a British prison, said that the organization's next leak, due out early next year, will involve at least one major American bank.

In a 2009 Computer World interview, Assange said that his organization had obtained a 5GB hardrive from a Bank of America employee, but had been struggling with the best way to present the hard drive's data.

Comments

[Acharn]

12:10 AM on 12/23/2010

So what does Ryan have against "Julian Assange, who was recently released from a British prison,..."? I mean, that way of describing him is a little misleading, don't you think? True, he was released from police detention, on bail. "Released from prison" implies he was convicted of some crime and served a prison sentence. Not the case.

By the way, I've loathed BofA ever since I was forced to use their services when they had the contract as the "approved military banking facility" in Thailand. Their service then was shoddy, their fees were exorbitant, and they showed nothing but disdain for their customers. The few times since then I've had occasion to deal with them have not been any more pleasant. Too bad, they started out in California as a real "people's bank."

[The Squid]

04:04 PM on 12/21/2010

"The bank said in a statement that it believes that site 'may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments.'"

Huh? Spare us the double speak, BofA, please. They *may* be engaged? "Internal policies for processing payments"? So, first off, you don't even know for sure what WL is doing. Second, you give some ambiguous reason which means nothing to the public.

Say what you mean or appear to be hiding something.

[Mat Biscan]

11:16 AM on 12/21/2010

Even before this, I would never think about putting my money in BoA. I'm currently looking for a good local Credit Union. Can't trust the banks anymore.

[Aroddo]

08:08 AM on 12/21/2010

Rule 34 has been invoked:

http://rule34.paheal.net/post/view/578144

[macrocosm]

05:32 AM on 12/21/2010

Hopefully someone tells them to redact clients names from all the bank doc releases because that is quite illega;...l however it should not impede the ability to enlighten the public about the entrenched corruption the whole world knows is there.

[irochfpst]

08:52 PM on 12/20/2010

i stopped doing business with bank of america awhile ago. if you wan't to help yourself and your neighbors, move your money to local banks and credit unions. be apart of the move your money campaign and help reduce big banks power over our economy and our politics.

[charlesbaratta01]

07:54 PM on 12/20/2010

The banks that got the money aren’t approving small businesses for badly needed loans, that are why more and more merchants are turning to merchant business cash advance, or merchant cash advance loans to leverage their credit card receipts.

Charles Baratta
http://www.merchantloans.com

[Ronni01]

05:16 PM on 12/20/2010

I knew it! American Government is interlinked with BofA. Thats why they wanted to put a stop to WikiLeaks. Not because of what he has already leaked but because of what he WILL LEAK.

[hockeywife37]

01:25 PM on 12/20/2010

Told BofA to shove it about a year ago and switched 3 accounts to my local credit union. When I was on the phone with the customer service rep, he asked why I was closing my accounts and I told him I hated BofA. He actually seemed stunned that anyone would feel that way about them. Either he was a great actor or totally clueless about their evil empire. I actually felt sorry for him having to work there since jobs are so hard to find these days.

[UberdanSounds]

12:38 PM on 12/20/2010

I can't even believe anyone would actually bank with these people, they're really expensive.

[farmilyman]

11:16 AM on 12/20/2010

B of A has such integrity.

[Overbluff]

11:02 AM on 12/20/2010

If he is so PI***d off at BOA why doesn't he release his goods on the banks? Come on, Julian, the world is waiting.

[guveqzero]

10:27 AM on 12/20/2010

BOA has no ethics, what are people talking about. They are a bank that merely takes money from people as fast and often as possible. We would be better off with nonprofit credit unions.

[RogerMurtaugh]

12:22 PM on 12/20/2010

Sure! Next time Company A is looking to issue $1 Billion in notes in the public bond market, you can be sure to tell them to call up their local credit union. I'm sure they will be able to help.

[ibsteve2u]

09:36 AM on 12/20/2010

To tell the truth, I keep expecting to hear that our banks used Blackwater/Xe to take Assange out.

[Seafarer61]

09:07 AM on 12/20/2010

What the hell is a 5GB hardrive?

[RogerMurtaugh]

12:23 PM on 12/20/2010

Code word for nonsense meant to rile up a bunch of people who probably wouldn't understand the contents of any emails relating to banking in the first place.

[Stephen Sherry]

01:36 AM on 12/22/2010

Seriously, will anything even fit on it?

[Acharn]

12:17 AM on 12/23/2010

Has to be pretty damn old. I think the first hard drive I owned was 25MB. Wow! Huge! How can I ever fill this up? The alternative was 5-1/4" floppy disks that held 170KB.