Commerce Bank Review

Commerce Bank Commerce Bank

0.01% APY

Commerce Bank is a mid-sized commercial and personal bank based in Missouri, with additional locations in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. It offers a wide variety of financial products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, credit cards, mortgages and consumer loans. 

While interest rates at Commerce Bank beat some of the country’s biggest banks, they are not especially high. Interest rates on Commerce Bank savings accounts are quite low, while CDs offer a somewhat higher return. Commerce Bank’s limited regional footprint and ATM network make it a poor choice for anyone outside of its core states of Missouri and Nebraska.

Products Offered

Commerce Bank Interest Rate Comparison

Commerce Bank Overview

With retail branches in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma, Commerce Bank is the 48th-largest bank in the United States. Though it got its start the same year the Civil War ended (1865), Commerce Bank has changed substantially over the past 150 years.

Today it is a full-service bank, offering customers a wide range of ways to save and invest. In addition to its hundreds of brick-and-mortar locations, Commerce Bank provides free online and mobile banking services. Its mobile app has a 4.6-star rating in the Apple store, with over 30,000 ratings.

Commerce Bank Account Features

Whether you’re interested in a savings account, a checking account or something more complicated, you are likely to encounter a few common traits with your Commerce Bank account. The first is a low minimum deposit - with the exception of its CDs and retirement accounts, no Commerce Bank account has a minimum opening deposit greater than $100.

On the other hand, once you open your account you are likely to face a monthly service fee of $5 to $10, unless you increase your total deposit or set up a regular direct deposit to your account. For instance, a minimum monthly deposit of $25 is enough to avoid the fee for a myRewards Savings Account.

Most savers are interested in the return their money is earning. Don’t expect to get rich off your savings at Commerce Bank, as rates on savings accounts, CDs and money market accounts are generally less than 1%.

Another note: Commerce Bank does not automatically include account holders in a free national ATM network. This means that you will likely have to pay a fee to access your money outside of the states where Commerce Bank has its own ATMs (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma). The one exception is customers with a CommerceRelationship Checking Account, which requires an average deposit of at least $5,000, or an average total deposit among all Commerce Bank accounts of $15,000.

Commerce Bank myRewards Savings Account

An FDIC-insured Commerce Bank savings account is a good place to keep your money safe, but don’t expect to be blown away by the interest that money earns. This isn’t particularly a knock on Commerce Bank, as its rates aren’t much off the national average and are similar to many large banks like Chase. 

That being said, there are other perks to the savings account that may keep some customers happy. For starters, you don’t need anything in your piggy bank to open one and you can avoid the monthly $5 service fee by maintaining a balance of $300 or making regular electronic deposits of at least $25.

Commerce Bank also offers standard free features like online banking and the use of its mobile app. However, ATM use and withdrawals are somewhat limited. Savings Account holders can make three free withdrawals or transfers per month before a $2 transaction fee kicks in.

Account holders who make 11 consecutive monthly deposits (the bonus is the average of these deposits) and fewer than four withdrawals all year will receive a bonus of up to $20 per account, up to a maximum of $40 per household for all eligible accounts. Note that to be eligible for the bonus, you must also have a checking account with Commerce Bank.

Commerce Bank Certificates of Deposit

A certificate of deposit is a savings vehicle that trades the flexibility of savings account for a higher return on your money. By agreeing not to withdraw your money for a set period of time, you can earn a higher interest rate. The longer the period, the higher the rate.

Commerce Bank offers CDs in terms of three months, six months and one-year increments up to five years. Rates range from 0.01% up to 0.10%. In general, these are not the highest rates available for certificates of deposit.

Likewise, Commerce Bank does not offer the variety of CDs available at many other banks. While many banks offer CDs in six-month increments up to five years, and CDs with flexible rates or the ability to add funds after one year, Commerce Bank does not go beyond the more traditional CDs.

Commerce Bank Money Market Account

Money Market accounts at Commerce Bank offer the possibility of higher rates than a savings account, with many of the same features, and the ability to write a limited number of checks every month. The main qualification is that to maintain a money market account without paying fees and to take advantage of the higher rates, you need to deposit a lot more money than you would with a basic savings account.

For instance, Commerce Bank’s Premium Money Market Account offers the highest rates of the bank’s money market and savings accounts. But to attain those high rates, one needs to deposit at least $10,000. Interest compounds monthly on Commerce Bank’s money market accounts.

That being said, none of these rates are particularly high. For example, an account with $5,000 in it would earn $0.50 per year in interest at a rate of 0.01%.

Commerce Bank Checking Account

There are a wide variety of checking account options at Commerce Bank, though they are similar in most regards. All accounts have a monthly service fee that is waived based on either a monthly direct deposit or a minimum daily balance. The CommerceInterest Checking account, for example, has an $1 monthly service fee that is waived for accounts with a direct deposit of $500 or a daily balance of $1,000 in each statement cycle.

In addition to the service fee, checking accounts with Commerce Bank face overdraft fees when accounts are drawn below zero dollars. The basic fee is $37 per transaction below $0. You can elect to enroll in one of two overdraft protection services. One will transfer funds from a linked Commerce Bank account, at a cost of $13 per transaction. The other makes a cash advance from a linked credit card, at a cost of 5% of the advance, plus interest on the debt.

Several Commerce Bank checking account types pay interest on deposits. CommerceInterest Checking pays an interest rate of 0.01% APY on deposits. CommerceRelationship Checking pays interest of 0.01% for accounts of $1,000 or more, and 0.01% for accounts below that threshold. Accounts with less than $5,000 are subject to a $22 service fee, however (unless they are linked to other Commerce Bank accounts with total deposits of over $15,000).

As noted above, Commerce Bank does not enroll customers in any kind of national ATM network. Accessing non-Commerce Bank ATMs costs $2.75 per transaction, plus any fees charged by the ATM owner.  CommerceRelationship Account holders are exempted from these fees, and Commerce Bank refunds other banks’ ATM fees up to a total of $10 per month.

Where Can I Find Commerce Bank?

Commerce Bank does business in five states: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma. However, it does not have locations throughout all parts of those states. It does not have any locations in Chicago. Most of its locations are in Missouri.

What Can You Do Online With Commerce Bank?

Most online banking features are available for free through the Commerce Bank website. Customers can check account balances, transfer money between accounts, open new accounts and access recent transactions for credit and debit cards.

How Do I Access My Money?

There are a number of ways to access your money with Commerce Bank. If you are in Missouri or one of Commerce Banks other states, you can visit a Commerce Bank ATM and withdraw money with your debit card. (Other ATMs will likely cost several dollars in fees.) Likewise, you can access your money by visiting a Commerce Bank location.

On the road? Commerce Bank has a mobile app, with which you can check your account balances, transfer money and make deposits. Commerce Bank checking accounts also come with debit cards, with which you can make purchases.

How Can I Save More Money With Commerce Bank?

Commerce Bank does not offer particularly high rates. If a high return on your savings is your goal, your best option would be a certificate of deposit. Rates currently sit at 0.03% for a one-year CD, or 0.10% for a five-year CD. 

With a CD, your money is locked in for the duration of the term so you will not be able to take advantage of higher rates if they happen to change.

What’s the Process for Opening an Account With Commerce Bank?

The process to open a Commerce Bank account online is fairly simple. On its website, choose the type of account you would like to open. From there, you have to provide some information about yourself, such as your Social Security number and date of birth. 

After agreeing to a number of legal disclosures, you make an initial minimum deposit (usually $25 - $100) and your account is open. Remember that most accounts need a greater minimum balance to avoid the monthly service fee however, so make sure you adequately fund your account.

What’s the Catch?

Commerce Bank’s geographic footprint is limited to a handful of states, with most of its locations in Missouri and Nebraska. Furthermore, it does not provide customers with free access to a national ATM network. In short, if you are outside of these states, accessing your money will be a challenge.

Bottom Line

Commerce Bank offers a wide variety of financial products, making it a convenient one-stop shop for people who do not want to juggle accounts at multiple banks. However, it does not offer particularly high interest rates and its assortment of fees (including ATM fees) are not especially consumer-friendly.