Anthony Frank Posts Himself to Arizona : Banking: The former postmaster general is back in the banking business in a big way with a major new institution formed from scratch.

Anthony M. Frank likes to leave his stamp on things.

As postmaster general, he became known as the man who gave America a choice: He launched a national phone-in campaign to decide which image of Elvis Presley--large or lean--should land on a postage stamp.

Now Frank is ready to leave another imprint--back in the lending business. Frank made a stunning return Tuesday to the banking industry by announcing the formation of a large new institution, Independent Bancorp of Arizona.

The bank, believed to be the largest bank ever formed from scratch, will operate 49 branches in Arizona that BankAmerica Corp. was forced to divest for antitrust reasons. The sale cleared the way for BankAmerica’s merger with Security Pacific Corp.

Frank, who is expected to serve as the bank’s chairman, organized Independent Bancorp principally with Richard W. Decker Jr., the new bank’s chief executive. Decker is former chief executive of Westamerica Bank in San Mateo.

He is a business associate of former Baseball Commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth, who is an investor in the new bank along with what Frank described in an interview as “passive institutional money.” Frank said the investor group is putting more than $200 million into the operation.

Independent Bancorp is acquiring $2.1 billion of deposits and $229 million of branch-related loans from BankAmerica. The new bank may also take on another $1 billion in loans offered by BankAmerica.

In effect, Frank, who headed Ford Motor Co.’s First Nationwide Bank before being named postmaster general, created instantly what will rank among the top five banking operations in Arizona and the largest independent bank in the state.

“I believe that this is a record-breaker from the standpoint of a start-up,” said Bert Ely, an Alexandria, Va.-based consultant. “I suspect that this might be almost unique in American banking annals.”

Arizona’s largest independent banks have disappeared, while its major thrifts failed as the result of the state’s severe real estate slump over the last three years. Last week, the giant Banc One of Columbus, Ohio, acquired the state’s largest bank, Valley National Corp., for $1.2 billion in stock.

Frank confidently predicts that the new bank can compete with BankAmerica and Banc One, and that the Arizona economy will recover. “The trend is right,” he said. “This is a dynamic state.”

Frank’s life suggests that he is well accustomed to risk and bold strokes: He aggressively expanded First Nationwide, the San Francisco-based thrift that he headed in the 1980s. By the end of the decade, Frank left to lead the Postal Service, where he launched an $8-billion automatization. He resigned from the government post in January.

Frank, 60, is described as a gregarious man who employs a self-deprecating sense of humor. When he was 6, Frank and his family fled Nazi Germany. After settling first in Philadelphia, Frank and his family moved to Los Angeles.

Before Tuesday’s announcement, Frank’s legacy to banking was bringing Ford into the thrift business of the 1980s. Frank did so in 1985, when he persuaded the auto giant to buy a stake in his First Nationwide. Frank led the expansion of the institution--and by mid-1991, Ford had pumped $1.5 billion into the thrift.

L. William Seidman, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., believes that Frank has a chance to succeed in Arizona. “I think he’s a very entrepreneurial-type guy who’s been very creative in the past,” Seidman said.