Loans (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Loans [Line Items]
Deferred discounts, finance charges and Interest Included in receivables	$ 4,500	$ 9,300
Federal Home Loan Bank advances	426,326	559,663
Accretion to interest income	16,711	21,512
Federal Agency Borrowings
Loans [Line Items]
Loans pledged as collateral	6,100,000	6,400,000
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances
Loans [Line Items]
Loans pledged as collateral	5,700,000
Federal Reserve Bank Advances
Loans [Line Items]
Loans pledged as collateral	484,600
Premium finance receivables
Loans [Line Items]
Loans and leases receivable, deferred income	$ 112,900	$ 87,000

Amount of accretion recognized for the excess of a loan's cash flows expected to be collected over the investor's initial investment in acquired loans not accounted for as debt securities, with evidence of deterioration of credit quality.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 15
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82894507&loc=d3e13503-111538

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82894903&loc=d3e15032-111544

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CertainLoansAcquiredInTransferNotAccountedForAsDebtSecuritiesAccretableYieldAccretion
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Including both current and noncurrent portions, Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings initially due beyond one year or beyond the normal operating cycle if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.16)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75038535&loc=d3e64702-112823

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479118&loc=d3e64650-112822

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesLongTerm
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of deferred interest and fee income, unamortized costs incurred to originate loans and leases, unamortized loan commitments and loan syndication fees, and premiums over or discounts from face amounts of acquired loans. Excludes amounts for loans and leases covered under loss sharing agreements.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.7)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84165051&loc=d3e45377-112738

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84173941&loc=d3e5074-111524

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84159169&loc=d3e10152-111534

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LoansAndLeasesReceivableDeferredIncome
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of loans that have been pledged as collateral for borrowings. If the secured party has the right by contract or custom to sell or re-pledge the collateral, then the debtor reclassifies that asset and report that asset in its statement of financial position separately from other assets not so encumbered.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66007379&loc=d3e113888-111728

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84173941&loc=d3e5086-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LoansPledgedAsCollateral
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Deferred Discounts, Finance Charges and Interest and Other Adjustments Included in Receivables

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wtfc_DeferredDiscountsFinanceChargesandInterestandOtherAdjustmentsIncludedinReceivables
Namespace Prefix:	wtfc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Loans [Line Items]

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wtfc_LoansLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	wtfc_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=wtfc_FederalAgencyBorrowingsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_FederalReserveBankAdvancesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivablePortfolioSegmentAxis=wtfc_PremiumFinanceReceivableMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: