the nation's first 24-hour banking transit department where checks or transit items drawn from out-of-town banks could be cleared and collected.[2] The bank was an early adopter in other ways as well. In 1955, it installed the latest moving "electric stairs" in the Walnut Lobby of its Kansas City headquarters. In that same lobby, President Bill Clinton announced his 1994 plan for welfare reform, using the occasion to recognize the bank's participation in "welfare-to-work" programs.[2] After World War II, Commerce Bank continued to play an important role in the Midwest's growth. It funded business growth, working with H&R Block, Sprint (originally called United Utilities), and Trans World Airlines, which had its main overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport. In 1954, the Commerce Trust Company allowed Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, to take out a $60,000 loan against Disney's life insurance policy to help fund the development of a new theme park Disney envisioned. Disneyland opened in California a year later, and by the end of its first year in operation, the park had already attracted 3.6 million guests.[3]From the 1960s to the 1990s, Commerce grew alongside the American economy, expanding throughout Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois. In 1968, Commerce became the first bank in Missouri to enter the credit card business.[2] In 1969, Commerce helped Ewing Kauffman, the owner of Marion Laboratories buy the Kansas City Royals. Commerce remains the Royals' bank.[2] After a young Johnny Morris opened a bait and tackle shop in the bank of his father's liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, Commerce provided the line of credit he needed in 1974 to open a second store in a chain known today throughout North America as Bass Pro Shops.[2] When the financial crisis caused a recession in 2008, Commerce was the country's sixth largest bank to decline financial assistance from the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.[4] Appearing regularly on Forbes' list of America's Best Banks, Commerce later added Colorado and Oklahoma to its banking footprint, with additional commercial offices throughout the Midwest and commercial payments services available in 48 states. Lines of business Commercial Banking – Commerce Bank serves more than 12,000 businesses through its commercial banking and payments businesses. The bank's commercial services include corporate lending, merchant and commercial bank card products, payment solutions, leasing and international services, as well as business and government deposit, investment, and cash management services. The commercial