Though payment via plastic has been embraced by many Americans, newer payment channels, such as mobile payments, have a long marketing road ahead before consumers even recognize the existence of the payment type, according to our most recent Bank Innovation Monitor.

And that’s just one challenge. The Bank Innovation Monitor on Alternative Payments, which will be released this month, also found another major red flag for budding payment technology: lack of consumer interest. In fact, 73.1% of Americans above the age of 18 who are unaware of alternative payments were uninterested in using any type, and that percentage was up slightly from the previous quarter. To us, that’s an impediment to alternative payments that needs to be addressed before more out-of-the-box solutions find consumer acceptance.

The biggest shocker from our data is consumers’ deficiencies in awareness of mobile payments. Indeed, only 29.7% of consumers said they were aware of cellphone “tap and go” and “wave and pay” payments. Granted, existing mobile payments have been running on a limited trial basis to date, but the low awareness numbers are still somewhat troubling. With well-known brands, like Google and American Express, investing heavily in mobile payments, the lack of awareness of cellphone payments shows just how much marketing will need to take place in order to open the revenue floodgates for banks and other industry participants. Our hope — and current belief — is that consumers may simply lack awareness of cellphones-for-payments primarily because the payment channel is largely still in limited trials. We expect consumer awareness and interest to expand quickly when mobile payment efforts grow from limited trials to full-blown offerings.

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