By Amy Guthrie 

MEXICO CITY--Retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB said Thursday it has agreed to sell its banking unit to Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's bank.

Separately, Inbursa said it would pay 3.6 billion pesos, or nearly $247 million, for the business, which will give Inbursa access to customers in more than 2,100 Wal-Mart stores of various sizes.

In a statement, Wal-Mart de Mexico Chairman Enrique Ostalé said the retailer feels that Inbursa will bring "a competitive credit offer to our business format."

Banco Walmart had 8.03 billion pesos in assets as of the end of October, making it one of Mexico's smaller financial institutions, according to data from Mexico's bank regulator. Banco Walmart had 5.43 billion pesos in deposits and 1.79 billion pesos in loans on its books in October.

Barclays said the transaction marginally positive for Wal-Mart de Mexico, as it should allow the company to focus on its key business within the self-service retail format.

Wal-Mart de Mexico Chief Executive Scot Rank said in September that the company was looking for ways to accelerate growth at Banco Walmart. The unit's credit card sales grew 50% in the first half of the year, he said, and the bank had 635,000 credit-card holders at the time.

"Banco Walmart has proven its potential to provide competitive consumer credit in our stores and clubs," he said.

Wal-Mart de Mexico is a unit of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart has said it is looking to "rejuvenate" the Mexican business, which accounts for about 6% of Wal-Mart's global sales.

Write to Amy Guthrie at amy.guthrie@wsj.com

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