WHORTON JOINS COMMERCE AS VICE PRESIDENT & TRUST OFFICER

SPRINGFIELD, MO - September 18, 2002 - Robin E. Robeson, senior vice president and market executive, The Commerce Trust Company, today announced that Diane Whorton has joined Commerce as Vice President, Trust Officer, and Administrative Team Leader. Whorton, a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, has 16 years of experience in the industry and, prior to joining Commerce, was a trust officer for a national bank's Springfield offices.

In her position, she is responsible for overseeing client service and personal account administration for the trust department's Private Client Group. A 2001 summa cum laude graduate of Drury University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, Whorton successfully completed a three-year program of the National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University, Chicago, in 1995.

Active in professional and civic organizations, she serves as a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Estate Planning Council, and member of the Missouri Trust Committee of the Missouri Bankers Association.

About The Commerce Trust Company
The Commerce Trust Company, a division of Commerce Bank, N.A., is responsible for more than $16 billion in assets, including nearly $10 billion of assets under active management. The Commerce Trust Company offers a complete range of fully integrated private client services, including financial advisory, investment management, brokerage, trust, lending and banking services. It also provides institutional trust and investment services to corporations, foundations, endowments, employee benefit plan sponsors, public funds and Taft-Hartley plans, as well as corporate debt administration services.

For more information contact:
Cozetta Jones
Marketing Representative
417-837-5334, or

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

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