COMMERCE BANK AWARDS JENNIFER BOCK $10,000 IN SKIP THE PIN, SIGN AND WIN SWEEPSTAKES

Kansas City, MO - April 24, 2003 - Commerce Bank announced today that it awarded Jennifer Bock of Gladstone $10,000 as part of its Visa® Check Card "Skip the PIN, Sign and Win" sweepstakes that awards cash prizes to randomly selected sweepstakes entrants.

Jennifer made a $21.45 purchase at Wal-Mart and said she uses her card all the time, "And, boy did it pay off!" She plans to use the $10,000 for a down payment on a house, something that she has been saving for.

"Now in its fifth year, we extended the cycle of 'Skip the PIN, Sign and Win' for the entire year and added three additional bonus prizes," said Mark Tankesley, Senior Vice President with Commerce Bank. "The more times a cardholder makes a signature-based transaction, then the more chances the customer will have to win."

"We hope to continue building awareness of the consumer benefits surrounding signature-based check card transactions with the contest," Tankesley added.

Benefits of Signature-Based Debits
Signature-based transactions have a number of measurable benefits check cardholders may not be aware of, some of which are:

• Commerce Bank's Zero Liability Policy eliminates the customers' liability for any unauthorized transactions that might take place. Customers must notify Commerce Bank within 60 days of receiving a statement showing unauthorized account activity.
• Customers can dispute purchases of goods and services that were never delivered or do not meet their expectations.

Every time a Commerce Bank Visa Check Card customer selects "credit" and signs for his or her purchase, he or she is entered in the sweepstakes. There is no waiting period for eligibility after a card is issued. Complete sweepstakes rules and alternative forms of entry are described at the Commerce Bank website at www.commercebank.com. No purchase is necessary to enter or win.

From January through October of 2003, Commerce Bank will select a $1,000 winner every week. Two more bonus prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded at the end of June and September. In November and December, a $1,000 winner will be chosen daily. A final grand prize of $25,000 will be awarded after the end of the year.

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.

For more information contact:
Rebecca Freetly-Graber
Marketing Officer
816-234-2308

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

# # #