A huge consolidation process is about to begin amongst eCommerce software providers around the world due to Visa mandating a timetable to remove eCommerce software which does comply with their PABP certification.
The relevant dates are as follows:
1st July 2008 all new eCommerce installations in USA must be PABP compliant.
1st January 2009 all eCommerce installations in Visa Asia/Pacific region must be PABP compliant (This is the likely date supplied by Visa.)
On the positive side, we have been watching the Visa/MasterCard PABP issue closely and are gearing Freeway up meet compliance very early in 2008. I am not sure what is going on with other Open Source eCommerce projects but my assumption is the ground is moving too fast and certification cost may also be an issue.
I don’t know what to think about PABP. On the one hand, it is a good thing that eCommerce occurs securely and the security provisions are pretty sensible but for Visa to arbitrarily mandate compliance provisions is not ideal.
Hopefully it is does not signal the end of the great Open Source eCommerce projects, osCommerce and ZenCart but it is going to be a huge challenge to meet this certification and remain relevant. If it leads to their demise, it cannot be a good thing for Open Source considering all the tender care people have put into the core applications and vast array of creative extensions.