In this study we investigated what types of credit association are more likely to seek credit ratings. Specifically, we examined whether the credit rating acquisitions of credit associations are promoted by a competitive prefectural environment, by the amounts of bad loans or by the amounts of deposit balances. Our study demonstrated that credit associations that were located in more competitive markets or that had large deposit balances were more likely to disclose credit ratings. We also found that credit associations that were experiencing serious bad loan problems were less likely to choose to voluntarily disclose this information.