(AFP) - Cash machines stopped working in rebel-held east Ukraine on Wednesday and businesses no longer accepted credit cards after the authorities in Kiev moved to shut down the banking system.

An AFP journalist found dozens of people queueing up hopefully in the biting cold outside banks around the separatist stronghold of Donetsk.

"I came here at 5:00 am to start queueing up," retiree Nina said, as she waited outside a closed branch of Russian-owned bank Sberbank in the hope that it would open later in the day.

Inside, tellers said that they had been ordered to stop operations Tuesday by Ukraine s central bank.

"We received the order to close the establishment yesterday. There are no more money transfers here," said Valery, a worker at state-run Oschadbank, which was open but not providing cash withdrawals.

Ukraine s central bank on Tuesday ordered all banks to "suspend" their operations in the rebel-held areas as part of a push by Kiev to isolate the separatist regions.