Most banks I know of only started supporting Google Pay after they deployed Apple Pay. Basically, Apple Pay showed consumers how good the UX can be which more or less forced the banks to Google Pay support so they can also have a good UX on Android. Without Apple forcing the use of Apple Pay I doubt it would ever have taken off.
NFC payments were possible through the banking apps on Android for years before Apple Pay launched in my country. Note that contactless payment had also been around here for years and pretty much all payment terminals supported it. Technically, everything was in place for it to be adopted, yet no one used it. Only after introduction of Apple Pay did it take off. Google Pay support followed the success of Apple Pay.
NFC payments were possible through the banking apps on Android for years before Apple Pay launched in my country. Note that contactless payment had also been around here for years and pretty much all payment terminals supported it. Technically, everything was in place for it to be adopted, yet no one used it. Only after introduction of Apple Pay did it take off. Google Pay support followed the success of Apple Pay.