“If Mint and Bizzy had a baby…” is how Bundle was first described to me.  And after playing around with it for a little while, I tend to whole-heartedly agree.  Bundle is a joyous tool to use, at least for a research junkie like myself.  Taking real consumer data from CitiGroup, Bundle is able to offer real stats and comparisons for things your curious about.  The startup is taking things to the next level with recommendations for local restaurants and neighborhoods.

Bundle’s new tools are the Restaurant Recommender, available in L.A. and New York City to start out with, and Move-O-Matic, which will help you determine the actual financial impact of one zip code compared to another.  Utilizing real consumer data is a hardcore way to offer up recommendations, which can be drilled into pretty deep, if you’re curious enough to head down that rabbit hole.

Consumer data in general is being used all over the place these days, far beyond advertising and quarterly reports.  With the realm of shared data growing with every mobile app, website and social networking status update, it’s certain that there’s not going to be a shortage anytime soon.

Applying that data is an entirely different story, with countless methods of repurposing that data for various uses.  Taking full advantage of CitiGroup’s developer tools for playing around with consumer patterns, Bundle is able to offer real recommendations that can be used by the consumers themselves, with an individualized twist.

“We’re mapping the DNA of consumer spending,” says Bundle CEO Jaidev Shergill, explaining how this type of repurosed consumer data is essentially the new user-generated content, a channel for direct interaction between brand and consumer, as well as consumer and consumer.

“Bundle can cut through the noise.  It’s not about who screams the loudest, but it’s based in real data.  Where we can go with this for recommendations is because we already have the anonymous data via our relationship with CitiGroup.  We can look at a customer’s journey at different things they spend money on.”

This makes Bundle a cross-vertical platform, able to transfer recommendations across a number of areas.  For instance, if someone likes a particular restaurant, they can see recommendations for grocery stores as well.

It’s services like Bundle that makes it clear that metrics are the new user-generated content. The level of automation and anonymity involved means consumers don’t have to take extra actions, like logging in (or even checking in) to a site or service, leaving reviews, tips or other forms of feedback.  Their actions speak louder than words, and Bundle is finding some very interesting ways in which to give those actions a voice.