CHARLOTTE, NC (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp said yesterday it will not process payments intended for WikiLeaks, which has angered US authorities with the mass release of US diplomatic cables.
The largest US bank by assets joins a growing group of financial services companies, including MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Europe, that are restricting payments to the global organization which has said its next large document release will be bank information.
“This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments,” the bank said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
WikiLeaks has said it will release documents early next year that will point to “unethical practices” at a major US bank, widely thought to be Bank of America.
