EXCLUSIVE—Is the end of credit, debit cards drawing near? Financial service firm Fiserv says, no.

“Physical cards, they’re not going anywhere,” Sharon Pazlar, director of output solutions for Fiserv told Bank Innovation. “As much as mobile has bloomed, especially with the efficiency of mobile and online banking, the banks have to facilitate payment with whatever method the customer wants—be that physical, mobile, or online.”

That means crafting whatever customer experience bank consumers want, which for some still includes keeping hold of, and paying with, a physical debit or credit card.

Fiserv is partnered with, and helps to facilitate, the mobile and online payment services that will eventually replace physical payments; it works with a number of banks and fintechs offering mobile solutions, and is part of the Zelle payment ecosystem.

However, the company is hedging against the complete shutdown of physical payments with solutions like its “instant issue” service, which enables banks and credit unions to instantly issue physical cards to customers within the branch.

The service enables more speed and a better customer experience for participating banks and FIs; a new wireless tablet capability for the service was launched on Wednesday, August 23 with First Alliance Credit Union in Rochester, Minnesota.

While a good segment of the customers searching for that experience are members of older generations—a key point for those in fintech advocating the approaching death of cards—familiarity and tradition aren’t the only reasons consumers want to keep cards around, according to Pazlar.

“The next consideration is access to funds,” said Pazlar. “Even if you have the best mobile app, you need to have that backup, because [consumers] need to have access to their funds.”

The death of cards will come when this backup presence for mobile and online payments is no longer needed, which, according to Fiserv at least, is quite a long way off.