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On August 4, 1959, the State Banking Department formally established Commerce Bank & Trust, then known as Commerce State Bank.
The bank was initially just a pipe dream for a number of Topeka businesspeople. The team was in charge of building a brand-new retail complex, and in order to complete the shopping experience, they also planned to build a bank nearby.
Before Emery Fager was convinced to resign from his job with the Kansas State Bank in Overbrook, Kansas, and go to Topeka to take the helm of the projected Commerce State Bank, progress was sluggish. Emery Fager accepted the proposition and got started on setting up the new bank right away.
On December 3, 1959, the bank officially started with a $200,000 capital stock, a surplus of $100,000, and undistributed profits of $50,000. Starting a new bank was difficult, according to Fager. I wanted the brand, personality, and mission of this new bank to be positive. I wished for it to be more than simply another bank. I had a hope that the Commerce State Bank would be innovative, forward-thinking, and fiercely competitive. We were a people-oriented bank from the start, and our philosophy was to meet everyone’s needs as conveniently as possible while putting a special emphasis on providing courteous, helpful, and individualized service.
Commerce established a long number of “firsts” in customer service during the following fifty years, all of which were founded on the central tenet of offering