COMMERCE BANK ANNOUNCES OFFICER PROMOTIONS AND ELECTIONS

KANSAS CITY, MO - April 18, 2003 - The Board of Directors of Commerce Bank, Kansas City, announced the following officer promotions and elections.

Jean Daniel Crum has been promoted to Vice President in The Commerce Trust Company, a division of Commerce. She is responsible for the administration of personal trust accounts while providing expertise in the areas of fiduciary law and estate and tax planning. Crum has over 23 years of experience in the wealth management arena and is a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor and member of the American Banker's Association. She earned her Masters Degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.

Amy Gales has been promoted to Vice President in the Commercial banking division. She is responsible for business development and customer service related to Commerce's commercial banking products and services. Gales has over 18 years of experience in commercial banking and agricultural business. Past experience includes Vice President and Branch Manager for a commercial agricultural bank, CEO for a $60 million grain and farm supply business in Southern Minnesota and Executive Director of a consulting firm, where she provided guidance for start-up and expanding businesses.

New to the Kansas City area, she is a past advisory board member for the University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture, Wasceca, Minn.; a past board member for the Minnesota Grain Manager's Association; and a board member for the Cooperative Foundation. Gales has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.

Wanda Edgmond has been promoted to Assistant Vice President in the Information Technology department. She is responsible for the management of Commerce's enterprise application servers and oversees the implementation of server specifications for new and existing projects. Edgmond has been with Commerce for over 10 years and is an active member of information technology-sponsored charitable events and was awarded the "2002 Living the IT Guiding Principles" award. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Park College, Kansas City, Mo.

Todd Anciaux has been elected to Officer in the Commercial Banking division. Anciaux supports the commercial line of business by assisting in the development of new applications, procedures and management reports, as well as specific product and technological developments for the small business segment. He has been with Commerce for three years and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.

About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $13.3 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 340 locations and 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
800-892-7100 ext. 1930

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

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