Credit cards that will be used by their owners in illegal online transactions will be canceled, under a new legislation passed in the United Kingdom. But this also applies to savings and loan associations, that, along with banking institutions will receive notifications from the authorities if the financial services they issued to clients are being used to gain access to illegal online content.

The police will provide banks with evidence of suspects or people convicted of Internet child pornography offenses, and the banking institutions will require nothing more to hold the respective clients in breach of contract relating to the terms and conditions afferent to an account. Under an amended Data Protection Act, card issuers will be able to discontinue both the credit cards and the accounts of the users involved in online child pornography case.

This is a victory against online pedophiles shared by the U.K. payments industry body Apacs Administration, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office and children's charities. "No card provider wants to be associated with those who commit these crimes," Sandra Quinn, director of corporate communications at Apacs, said in a statement. "With this change in the law, our members will have the information they need to remove offenders' cards."