HERITAGE Building Society is banking on a name change to attract a younger clientele in order to remain connected with future generations.

At yesterday's annual general meeting in Toowoomba, chairman Brian Carter said the main reason for the name change was a sign of changing times and being dynamic enough to remain relevant and competitive.

And members agreed with 98.6 per cent voting to change its name to Heritage Bank Limited.

"When I first joined the building society movement back in 1975 there were well over 100 building societies of various forms in Australia," Mr Carter said.

"Today there are only nine, apart from Heritage, and one of them has announced its proposed departure.

"Four of them do not currently use the words 'building society' in their names.

"The unfortunate fact is that younger people do not know and, more importantly, do not care what a building society is. The consequence of this is that they will take their financial business to something they know and understand, a bank," he added.

Mr Carter said a change of name had occurred several times in the organisation's 136 year history, most notably when the boards of two building societies voted to merge in 1981 and adopt the new title of "Heritage". "We have evolved with the times and done what has been necessary to remain relevant and competitive. Among other things, this has included several changes of name," Mr Carter said.

Heritage will require approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) before the name change can take effect.

Also on the agenda at yesterday's meeting was directors' remuneration.

Members voted in favour of a 4.25 per cent increase in line with increases to remuneration of management and staff.