Can anywhere in the U.S. challenge Silicon Valley, and San Franciso in particular, to become America’s next tech hub? Economist Tyler Cowen thinks he has the answer. He puts the case for LA in his latest Bloomberg column.

First, consider the virtues of the Los Angeles area. It has splendid weather — warmer and sunnier than San Francisco — and a deep pool of talent. It is America’s second-largest city, with many nice neighborhoods to choose from (some of them, to the east, even affordable). It even has a subway, albeit an underdeveloped one. I would argue it has much better food, and of course a much larger and more diverse entertainment scene. You might reasonably conclude that top talent might prefer to live in or near Los Angeles rather than the Bay Area.

Savings bank Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken will become another German institution supporting Apple Pay. The move will happen sometime by the end of 2019, AppleInsider reported. The Euro-Cheque card is not expected to be supported at launch. That will follow at a later date.

Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, a branch of German savings banks and cooperative banks, will support Apple Pay in 2019. While there is no specific date mentioned, the service should start “later this year,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of internet services. Other German banks have already begun to adopt Apple Pay. “The ink is dry,” the Federal Association of German Banks wrote on Twitter, “The Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken will offer their customers Apple Pay later this year.” According to an article at Heise Online, the EC card, or Euro-Cheque card, will not be supported at launch. Girocard, the producers and managers of EC cards, will need to do some work on their end before integration can happen.