NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Think on a larger scale was the overarchingmessage of Brent Dixon's session that kicked off the CU WaterCooler Symposium on Thursday at the Frist Center for the VisualArts.

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The Austin, Texas-based founder of The Cooperative Trust sharedquite a few facts but the one that seemed to strike a chord withattendees most was that there are more payday lenders in the U.Sthan Starbucks and McDonald's put together.

In addition, it turns out that one of the top reasons why peoplego to payday lenders is actually in a roundabout way because of thefees.

The upfront, clearly spelled out charges, even if they arepredatory and making the choice to do so, seems preferable todealing with a financial institution where fees will be snuck in,Dixon said.

“There's an opportunity to disrupt the current credit unionsystem gatekeepers of Experian, Transunion and Equifax to grantaccess to credit,” Dixon added. “FICO is a really bad riskassessment tool so how do we come up with new models?”

He pointed to Zest Finance as an example of a new approach tounderwriting. Using large-scale, big data analyzing variables fromfinancial information to technology usage has resulted in theability to extend credit to 25% more Americans, Dixon said.

The third-annual CU Water Cooler Symposium concludes on Friday.