COMMERCE BANK ANNOUNCES OFFICER ELECTIONS AND PROMOTIONS

KANSAS CITY, MO - October 23, 2003 - The Board of Directors of Commerce Bank, Kansas City, announced the following officer promotions and elections.

Roger Williams has been elected Vice President of Commercial Card Services in the Retail Lending and Payment Systems (RLPS) division of the Bank. He is responsible for growing the commercial card line of business. Williams leads the sales and relationship management function for the bank's largest commercial card clients. He has been with Commerce Bank for almost 10 years within different areas of the Commercial BankCard division. Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Westminster College and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University.

Geryl Schafersman has been promoted to Bank Officer of Retail Lending and Payment Systems (RLPS), where she serves as Manager for the Collateral Department. She is responsible for managing the collateral for installment loans, home equity loans and anytime line accounts. Schafersman has been with Commerce Bank for almost 20 years within different areas of the Retail Lending and Payment Systems group.

J. Scott DuVall has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of the Corporate Facilities Group. He is responsible for overseeing the design and construction activity for all existing facilities owned and operated by Commerce Bank. DuVall has been with Commerce Bank for five years in the Corporate Facilities Group.

Matt B. White has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of Retail Lending and Payment Systems (RLPS). He is responsible for maintaining and improving stability for on-going functionality of all RLPS systems, processes and connectivity. White is also responsible for the interpretation and execution of policy and procedures related to change control, system reporting, and service level agreements within RLPS. He has been with Commerce Bank for seven years in different divisions of the Bank. White earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Kansas.

About Commerce Bancshares, Inc.
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $13.6 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 operates across three states with approximately 330 locations and also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.

For more information contact:
Jill Swords
Regional Marketing Representative
816-234-2308

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

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