Visa Plants a Seed for Growth Abroad

Updated May 6, 2013 7:57 p.m. ET

On a cloudy morning in Rwanda's capital, Ginger Baker tested Visa Inc.'s big bet on this tiny African country: She tried to buy a cup of coffee with a credit card.

But the barista didn't understand how the machine worked. So Ms. Baker, country manager for Visa's fledgling Rwanda operation, called the bank that licensed the cards and asked them to teach the barista to use it.

Such hands-on attention is crucial to helping the...

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