RankingBanking 26 Digital - Flipbook - Page 12
10
Commerce
Bancshares’ Rise
To Become One
of America’s Best
Banks
By Naomi Snyder
T
he lobby of the 15-story Com-
into its DNA. The sixth-generation Kemper now
merce Bank Tower in a suburb of
running the publicly traded bank, 48-year-old John
St. Louis is decked wall-to-wall
Kemper, hews to a pattern similar his predecessors.
with a video installation of a pris-
He has a focus on customers, credit and sustain-
tine Missouri prairie, a colorful
ability through good times and bad.
canvas of wildflowers waving in
the wind.
The nod to Missouri before
In an age of social media hype and attention-grabbing headlines, Commerce may fly under
the radar at a national level. But it’s quietly built
it had much development is not an accident. The
a powerhouse banking franchise with high profits,
$35.2 billion Commerce Bancshares, based in Kan-
strong capital and excellent credit, a formula so
sas City, traces its history in the Show Me State
successful that it’s the No. 1 bank overall in Bank
back more than 160 years — starting shortly after
Director’s 2026 RankingBanking based on 2025
the Civil War. The Kemper family has been involved
results.
almost that long. And that longevity seems built
RankingBanking is an annual measurement of
