METLIFE, NEW YORK CITY, HAS SELECTED COMMERCE BANK TO PROVIDE IMAGE LOCKBOX SERVICES FOR ITS SMALL BUSINESS CENTER

KANSAS CITY, MO - April 21, 2003 - Missouri-based Commerce Bank today announced that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") selected Commerce to provide state-of-the-art lockbox remittance processing, imaging technology, and payment services for MetLife's Small Business Center ("MetLife SBC").

Providing insurance to small and mid-size companies, MetLife SBC, utilizes lockbox services to facilitate the collection of customer payments. Businesses benefit from lockbox services through accelerated receivables collection providing increased cash flow, improved cash forecasting, and reduced costs associated with payment processing.

By adding enhanced imaging technology, Commerce Bank takes lockbox services to the next level, helping companies realize faster and more accurate receivables management. Image lockbox capabilities can dramatically reduce the time it takes to process lockbox receipts and access remittance information, allowing corporations to apply cash faster, update credit lines and offer better customer service through online research capabilities.

"Commerce Bank is committed to offering value and convenience to our customers by tailoring financial solutions for the customer's individual situation," said Kevin Barth, senior vice president, commercial line of business for Commerce. "For MetLife, a combination of customer service and technology was essential. Our state-of-the-art imaging capabilities were the best solution to meet MetLife's objective to increase financial efficiencies. Image lockbox services not only reduce mail and processing float, but it also gives our clients new tools to transform the way they do business or service customers."

Cheryl Lutz, Director of Administration for MetLife SBC, concurred that lockbox imaging and personal service facilitate the banking process for a company committed to providing exceptional service to its customers. "We needed a bank that would not only tailor a cash management program to fit our needs and provide excellent customer service, but also do both at a competitive price. Working with Commerce Bank offered MetLife opportunities to improve efficiency and manage an increased volume of business. Outsourcing both our imaging/indexing function and some additional analysis requirements to Commerce Bank enables more payments to automatically update the system, improving MetLife's efficiency by 50 percent," Lutz said.

Commerce Bank's image lockbox service supports Web-browser technology that gives its user secure, encrypted access to information and images over the Internet. Users can additionally access remittance documents via CD-ROM. The service accelerates the delivery of information and funds to clients, allows electronic rather than manual document searches, and reduces the time needed to resolve customer inquiries and exceptions. Clients are able to manage credit lines, research exceptions and apply cash much more quickly than with traditional lockbox programs.

For more information regarding Commerce Bank's image lockbox capabilities or other business financial services, please call 800-892-7100 ext. 2487 or visit www.commercebank.com.

About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $13.4 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.

About MetLife MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to individual and institutional customers. The MetLife companies serve approximately 12 million individuals in the U.S. and companies and institutions with 33 million employees and members. MetLife also has international insurance operations in 12 countries. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company's Web site at www.metlife.com.

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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