President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Commerce Bancshares
Search every verified John Kemper interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a March 2025 podcast appearance, John Kemper discussed the 2023 banking crisis, attributing several bank failures to the government's COVID-era stimulus and low interest rates, which he said led banks to make long-dated loans at low yields. When rates rose, funding costs exceeded loan yields, creating a mismatch that threatened bank net worth and triggered deposit runs. Kemper described banks as operating with high leverage, where small losses can wipe out equity, and emphasized the importance of managing risks that occur infrequently. Kemper also addressed the role of artificial intelligence in banking, stating it is already used for risk scoring, anti-money-laundering detection, and customer service, and predicted it will significantly change credit decisioning while human accountability remains essential. He offered investment advice, recommending index funds and early, consistent saving to benefit from compound interest. When discussing hiring, Kemper said he looks for curiosity, problem-solving, and leadership, and avoids "brilliant jerks" who are smart but toxic to culture.
“Last year there were a number of banks that actually failed, some among the biggest bank failures in American history, and it all kind of feeds back into what happened with COVID and the government response, where a lot of money was pumped into the economy and interest rates were driven down to stimulate borrowing.”
“Banks made a ton of long-dated fixed rate loans like mortgages yielding around 3%, but then funding costs rose to over 5%, so banks were borrowing at higher rates than they were lending, which is a good way to lose money.”
“The run on the bank last year was essentially depositors withdrawing money because the banks' net worth was threatened by the mismatch between low-yielding loans and high funding costs, leading to some of the largest bank failures in history.”
“AI is already helping banks with risk scoring, detecting money laundering, and customer service, and in the longer term, it will significantly change credit decisioning and other banking operations, though human accountability remains essential.”
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