COMMERCE BANK ANNOUNCES OFFICER PROMOTIONS AND ELECTIONS

KANSAS CITY, MO -July 19, 2002 - The Board of Directors of Commerce Bank, Kansas City, announced the following officer promotions and elections in The Commerce Trust Company, a division of Commerce Bank.

Joel Huet has been promoted to Senior Vice President of The Commerce Trust Company. Huet is responsible for business development and sales management for the division and has 14 years of trust and investment management experience. He earned his designation as a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, Certified IRA Services Professional from the Institute for Certified Bankers and his Certified Financial Planner designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Stnadards. Huet earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Fort Hays State University and his Masters in Finance from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO. Additionally, Huet is a graduate of the Cannon Trust School at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, and the College for Financial Planning.

Jane Gard has been promoted to Vice President of Private Banking. Gard is responsible for business development, customer service and lending, with an emphasis on mortgage lending in the private banking division. She joined Commerce more than 15 years ago as the Lead Loan Officer in the mortgage department. Gard serves as Vice President of Membership on the Lyric Opera of the Kansas City board of directors and is a member of the Belles of the American Royal (BOTAR) and the Kansas City Junior League. She was a past recipient of the Commerce Bank Best Practices Award and a contributing guest mortgage columnist for the Kansas City Star. Gard earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

Linda Goodwin has been promoted to Vice President of The Commerce Trust Company. Goodwin is a team leader in institutional services administration focusing on endowment, foundation, insurance and other non-ERISA institutional relationships. She has 23 years of experience in institutional trust services. Goodwin has certifications from the College of Williams and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, from the college's National Planned Giving Institute program; The Trust School, Overland Park, KS; and the American Institute of Banking, Kansas City, MO. Goodwin attended Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, and later Longview Community College, Lee's Summit, Mo., where she earned her Associates degree in Applied Science, Business Administration.

Corey Means has been promoted to Vice President of The Commerce Trust Company and is responsible for managing the investment portfolios of personal and institutional clients. Means brings more than seven years of industry experience to the post and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Additionally, he is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) and the Kansas City Society of Financial Analysts. He is an active member of the Antioch Bible Baptist Church and is a former Board Member and Planned Giving Chairman of the Greater Ozarks Chapter of the American Red Cross. Means graduated with honors from Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.

Kent H. Peterson has been promoted to Assistant Vice President in the Private Banking. In this capacity, Peterson is responsible for solving the evolving financial needs of private banking clients, including deposit services, lending, investment and estate planning. He is a past Chairman of the Liberty Leadership Academy board of directors and a founding Board Member of Rebuilding Liberty Together. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Liberty Citizens Academy and the Liberty Leadership Academy. Peterson has been with Commerce for nearly 10 years and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

Matthew J. Schmitt has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of The Commerce Trust Company. Schmitt manages individual trust accounts by determining investment objectives and goals, then implementing investment tactics to reach those goals. He has eight years of experience in the financial services industry and is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR). Schmitt earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $12.3 billion regional bank holding company. For more than 135 years, Commerce has been meeting the financial services needs of individuals and businesses. Commerce provides a diversified line of financial services, including business and personal banking, wealth management and estate planning and investments through its affiliated companies. Commerce Bancshares operates across three states with more than 330 locations and also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities. For additional information, please visit www.commercebank.com or email mymoney@commercebank.com.

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

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

# # #