After PayPal, MasterCard Dumps Wikileaks

December 7, 2010 11:34 AM EST

After Paypal and Swiss authorities closed the Wikileaks' accounts, Mastercard has followed suit and refused to provide financial services to the whistle-blower website.

“MasterCard is taking action to ensure that Wikileaks can no longer accept MasterCard–branded products,” said a spokesperson for MasteCard Worlwide, according to the CNET website.

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MasterCard said it was cutting off payments because WikiLeaks is engaging in illegal activity.

"MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal," spokesman Chris Monteiro said.

In the last few days Wikileaks witnessed a systematic attack on their revenue sources as the Swiss authorities closed a bank account used by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and and Paypal dropped them last Friday.

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It is reported that Assange is going to need somewhere between $133,000 to $265,000 to post for bail to keep him out of a British cooler.

Moreover, the incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King (R-N.Y.) wants Wikileaks listed as a 'terrorist' organization, which would prohibit U.S. banks from processing payments and make it a crime for anyone to provide "material support or resources" to the group.

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the business news leader