07/12/2012

WikiLeaks Press Release:

In a case against Valitor, formerly VISA Iceland, Reykjavík District Court just ruled the company had violated contract laws by blocking credit card donations to WikiLeaks. After WikiLeaks’ publications revealing U.S. war crimes and statecraft in 2010, U.S. financial institutions, including VISA, MasterCard, Bank of America, erected a banking blockade against WikiLeaks wholly outside of any judicial or administrative process. The blockade stripped away over 95% of donations from supporters of WikiLeaks, costing the organization in excess of USD 20M.

The court ruled that the donation gateway should be reopened within 14 days otherwise Valitor will be penalized with a fine of 800 000 ISK daily. WikiLeaks is persuing several actions against the blockade and a European Commission preliminary investigation into the blockade was started last July. A Commission decision on whether to pursue the financial services companies involved in the blockade is expected before the end of August.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said “This is a significant victory against Washington’s attempt to silence WikiLeaks. We will not be silenced. Economic censorship is censorship. It is wrong. When it’s done outside of the rule of law its doubly wrong. One by one those involved in the attempted censorship of WikiLeaks will find themselves on the wrong side of history.”

For more information on the WikiLeaks banking blockade see http://wikileaks.org/Banking-Blockade

Iceland’s first mobile contactless payments project is to be launched by Valitor, a leading cross boarder acquiring solutions provider, in collaboration with partners Oberthur Technologies, and Visa Europe.

The project will utilise Orberthur Technologies’ SIM card product, which offers integrated support for NFC (Near Field Communications) to power mobile contactless payments.

As part of the initial implementation in early 2012, Valitor, Oberthur Technologies, and Visa Europe started working with Iceland’s key mobile network operators, Siminn and Vodafone.

Vidar Thorkelsson, Valitor’s CEO, comments, “We have been cooperating closely with Oberthur Technologies, and Visa Europe for many years. With this new agreement, we reinforce our willingness to have the necessary support and expertise in implementing Iceland’s first mobile contactless payments trial. This new technology will soon become a reality for all the citizens, who will experience the convenience, security and speed of mobile contactless payments.”

The full pilot of the project is set to begin in the second half of 2012 in the greater Reykjavik area. Valitor has acquiring and issuing relationships with the Icelandic banks Arion Bank, Landsbankinn, Islandsbanki, and MP bank, which combined have around 95 percent of the market share.

Iceland was chosen as the ideal test market for the contactless payments project due to the country’s population, and its concentration in the Reykjavik area. Combined with high mobile and card penetration, Iceland’s population profile will enable the partners to monitor cardholder and merchant response to mobile contactless payments ahead of a full commercial launch in late 2013.

“Iceland is one of our most successful markets. The size of the market and high card penetration makes Iceland an ideal test environment to drive our ambition to help realise the future of payments,” explains Mr. Fredrik Westerman, General Manager, Nordics and Baltics, Visa Europe. 

For further information regarding mobile contactless payments in Iceland, as well as cross boarder acquiring solutions, visit www.valitor.com.