> you don't need the damn banking apps

You need the Google/Apple app though, don't you? Or can you write your own personal app that will handle that?

There are several banks, especially over here in Europe, that have their own implementations of contactless payments, if that's what you mean. Here's a German article outlining this and mentioning a few examples: https://www.kuketz-blog.de/nfc-datenschutzfreundlich-bezahle...