What I did on my old Oneplus 7t (from a fresh install) was using Shelter to create a work profile and keep anything google related there. On the main profile I didn’t sign in to google or installed any google apps. I also disabled all OEM bloatware and apps I didn’t use. Not ideal, but better than nothing and all I could do before getting a new phone without unlocking the bootloader.
True, there really is no reason to configure a second phone just to use NFC payments when you can just carry a much smaller card…