Over a year ago, I had a conversation with an executive vice president of one of the largest secondary credit reporting agencies in the country. He was talking about the lack of quality assistance to help their clients improve their credit scores. He stated that loan officers too often talk a big game but offer very little in substance. He called their so-called credit optimization, "Gimmick programs."  There are four primary reasons why banks, credit unions, and loan officers struggle to provide real assistance with improving your credit scores.