Wikileak'd: US 'lobbied Russia on behalf of Visa and MasterCard'

pineapple skunk · Dec 8, 2010

WikiLeaks cables: US 'lobbied Russia on behalf of Visa and MasterCard' | World news | The Guardian

The US lobbied Russia this year on behalf of Visa and MasterCard in an attempt to ensure the payment card companies were not "adversely affected" by new legislation, according to American diplomats in Moscow.

A state department cable released this afternoon by WikiLeaks reveals that US diplomats intervened to try to amend a draft law going through Russia's duma, or lower house of parliament. Their explicit aim was to ensure the new law did not "disadvantage" the two US firms, the cable states.

The revelation comes a day after Visa â€“ apparently acting under intense pressure from Washington â€“ announced it was suspending all payments to WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website. Visa was following MasterCard, PayPal and Amazon, all of which have severed ties with the site and its founder Julian Assange in the last few days.

..

Mitman comments: "This draft law continues to disadvantage US payment card market leaders Visa and MasterCard, whether they join the NPCS or not. If they join, the NPCS operator will collect the fees, leaving them to collect processing fees only when card-holders travel abroad â€“ a tiny section of the market.

"If they do not join but choose to compete with NPCS cards, they will have to set up payment processing centers in Russia, a very large investment in itself, and compete against a system likely backed by the largest Russian state banks."

The answer, Mitman suggests, is for the Obama administration to actively bat for Visa and MasterCard. "While the draft legislation has yet to be submitted to the duma and can still be amended, post will continue to raise our concerns with senior GOR officials.
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also: PayPal admits US pressure over WikiLeaks account freeze | Media | guardian.co.uk

i wonder what government incentives amazon were/is receiving

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Wikileak'd: US 'lobbied Russia on behalf of Visa and MasterCard'

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Wikileak'd: US 'lobbied Russia on behalf of Visa and MasterCard'

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