RankingBanking 26 Digital - Flipbook - Page 15
13
Getting It Done
Commerce has quietly built a powerhouse banking franchise with strong returns.
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, results for 12 month periods.
20%
14.7%
15%
10%
5%
1.7%
0
Dec. 31, 2007
June 30, 2026
Return on Assets
Return on Equity
talk, talk, talk,” says Paula Petersen, executive
work for the day, he hung out in the bank lobby in
vice president. Now “we put our toe in the water,
Kansas City to catch up on the latest news.
test it, tweak a little bit and get our way to ‘yes’
much quicker.”
“John would, and his dad was the same way,
they would rather spend time with customers
This has been a handy tool in the fast-paced
than spend time with Wall Street,” says Charles
world of payments, an important business for
“Chuck” Kim, the bank’s CFO. That means Kim
Commerce and where technology such as stable-
is the executive most likely to travel to New York
coin may threaten bank deposits. So far, Kemper
for investor meetings. “And frankly, some of them
says customers aren’t asking for stablecoin, but if
complain a little bit, ‘I don’t get to talk to John
they do, he wants Commerce to provide what they
enough,’” Kim says. “If they want to come here
want or need.
and see us, John talks to them, and he’ll talk
Kemper devotes a lot of time to talking to
strategy, but he is very committed to the business
customers — a lesson learned from his father, who
and responsible, profitable growth in the business.”
learned it from previous generations of Kempers.
John Kemper’s preferences about how to spend
When William Thornton Kemper would finish his
his time are evident in the absence of quarterly
