COMMERCE BANK ANNOUNCES OFFICER PROMOTIONS AND ELECTIONS

KANSAS CITY, MO - May 20, 2002 - The Board of Directors of Commerce Bank, Kansas City, announced the following officer promotions and elections.

Rebecca Soetaert has been promoted to Vice President in the Retail Lending and Payment Systems (RLPS) Division of the Bank. In this capacity, Soetaert is responsible for the product development efforts of the merchant and commercial card product lines, as well as direct marketing of new and existing products for prospective and current customers. She has been with Commerce for almost 12 years and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO.

Samuel J. Bennett has been promoted to Assistant Vice President in the Charitable Trusts & Foundations department of the bank. Bennett is responsible for researching charitable requests and preparing recommendations for funding, as well as coordinating special projects and reports related to charitable giving. Prior to joining Commerce, he was the Argentine Branch Manager for the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library. Bennett has been with Commerce for three years and is a member of the American Library Association and a past member of the Kansas Library Association. Additionally, he is on the Literacy Kansas City board of directors and chairs the Community AIDS Partnership and Neighborhood Self Help Fund committees. Bennett earned a Bachelor of Arts from Simpson College, Indianola, IA, and a Master of Library Science from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Jeffrey Williams has been elected Officer in the RLPS Division of the Bank. Williams manages the accounting for merchant processing and provides financial analysis for the merchant line of business. Additionally, he manages the payment processing area in RLPS that posts balance transfers, credit balance refunds and payments for cardholder accounts, installment loans and anytime lines of credit. Williams has been with Commerce for over six years and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, and then a Master of Business Administration from Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO.

Michelle Binkley has been elected Officer in the bank's Human Resources department. Binkley is responsible for recruitment and employee relations in several areas of Commerce Bank, including information technology, marketing, compliance, brokerage, property services and the W.T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bank Trustee. She is the membership development chair for the Human Resources Management Association of Kansas City and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Human Resources Certification Institute. Binkley has been with Commerce Bank for nearly six years and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg KS.

About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is an affiliate of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. Commerce Bancshares is a registered bank holding company with assets of $12.3 billion and affiliates offering a full line of banking services, including investment management and securities brokerage. The Company currently operates in more than 340 locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The Company also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.

For more information contact:
Eliza Hamlet
Public Relations Representative
(816) 234-1930

Website: www.commercebank.com
e-mail: mymoney@commercebank.com
SYMBOL: CBSH

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