Brazil’s No. 2 private bank Banco Bradesco SA (BBD, BBDC4.BR) announced Friday it agreed to buy IBI Mexico for an undisclosed price in its first excursion into international credit card administration.

The bank said it had no immediate plans to use IBI Mexico as a beachhead to set up retail banking operations in Mexico, but the deal reinforces ideas that Brazilian banks are increasingly looking for opportunities abroad following two years of consolidation at home.

Bradesco will pay cash for all shares in IBI Mexico, which administers the consumer finance arm of clothing retailer C&A in Mexico. In the process, it will acquire a credit portfolio of 1.3 billion pesos ($99 million) and over 1 million credit card accounts, said Marcelo Noronha, head of the bank’s credit card business.

“We grabbed the opportunity to extend our existing relationship with C&A outside Brazil,” he told journalists on a conference call. “We identified it as a very well run asset.”

With acquisition possibilities limited at home and many international banks weakened by the recent credit crisis, Brazilian banks are increasingly being linked to foreign banks.

Brazil’s No. 1 private bank Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB, ITUB4.BR) has said it is assessing international opportunities, although it denied a recent report that it is considering buying stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG). It already has retail banking interests in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and the U.S. – from: online.wsj.com