Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (the "Parent Corporation") is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut. The Parent Corporation offers a broad range of financial services through its banking subsidiary, Bankwell Bank (the "Bank" and, collectively with the Parent Corporation and the Parent Corporation's subsidiaries, the "Company"). The Bank is a Connecticut state chartered commercial bank, founded in 2002, whose deposits are insured under the Deposit Insurance Fund administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). The Bank provides commercial lending services through a variety of fixed and floating rate products in Connecticut and surrounding markets. Such services are also provided to certain industries across several regions of the United States, primarily with borrowers with whom the Company has existing relationships. The Bank operates branches in New Canaan, Stamford, Fairfield, Westport, Darien, Norwalk, and Hamden, Connecticut. During the second quarter of 2022, the Company sold its Wilton branch building that was previously classified as held for sale. On October 7, 2022, the Company closed the Wilton branch. Principles of consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the Bank, including its wholly owned passive investment company subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Use of estimates The accounting and reporting policies of the Company conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and general practices within the banking industry. In preparing the consolidated financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated balance sheet, and revenue and expenses for the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the allowance for loan losses, the valuation of derivative instruments, investment securities valuation, evaluation of investment securities for other than temporary impairment and deferred income taxes valuation. Basis of consolidated financial statement presentation The unaudited consolidated financial statements presented herein have been prepared pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X and do not include all of the information and note disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) and disclosures considered necessary for the fair presentation of the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been included. Interim results are not necessarily reflective of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2022. The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Significant concentrations of credit risk Many of the Company's activities are with customers located in Connecticut and New York, with the majority of the Company's loans in Connecticut and some New York metro area counties. Declines in property values in these areas could significantly impact the Company. The Company has a significant concentration in commercial real estate loans. Common Share Repurchases The Company is incorporated in the state of Connecticut. Connecticut law does not provide for treasury shares, rather shares repurchased by the Company constitute authorized, but unissued shares. GAAP states that accounting for treasury stock shall conform to state law. Therefore, the cost of shares repurchased by the Company has been allocated to common stock balances. Reclassification Certain prior period amounts may be reclassified to conform to the 2022 financial statement presentation. These reclassifications only change the reporting categories and do not affect the consolidated results of operations or consolidated financial position of the Company. Recent accounting pronouncements The following section includes changes in accounting principles and potential effects of new accounting guidance and pronouncements. Recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted ASU No. 2022-02, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): "Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures.” This ASU eliminates the TDR recognition and measurement guidance and, instead, requires that an entity evaluate (consistent with the accounting for other loan modifications) whether a modification represents a new loan or a continuation of an existing loan. In addition, this ASU enhances existing disclosure requirements and introduces new requirements related to certain modifications of receivables made to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. For public business entities, this ASU requires that an entity disclose current-period gross write-offs by year of origination for financing receivables and net investment in leases within the scope of Subtopic 326-20. Gross write-off information must be included in the vintage disclosures required for public business entities in accordance with paragraph 326-20-50-6, which requires that an entity disclose the amortized cost basis of financing receivables by credit quality indicator and class of financing receivable by year of origination. For entities that have adopted the amendments in update 2016-13, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. For entities that have not yet adopted the amendments in update 2016-13, the effective dates for the amendments in this update are the same as the effective dates in Update 2016-13. The Company has not yet adopted this accounting standard as ASU 2016-13 has not been adopted. Management continues to evaluate the impact of its future adoption of this guidance on the Company’s financial statements. ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” This ASU changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments. For trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities, loans and other instruments, entities will be required to use a new forward looking “expected loss” model that will replace today’s “incurred loss” model and can result in the earlier recognition of credit losses. For available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses, entities will measure credit losses in a manner similar to current practice, except that the losses will be recognized as an allowance. On July 17, 2019, the FASB proposed deferring the effective date of ASC 326 for smaller reporting companies as defined by the SEC. The FASB proposed a three year deferral for smaller reporting companies, with an effective date of January 1, 2023. On October 16, 2019, the FASB voted in favor of finalizing its proposal to defer the effective date of this standard. The FASB issued ASU No. 2019-10, which officially delayed the adoption of this standard for smaller reporting companies until fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company qualifies to defer the adoption of this standard and has not yet adopted this standard. Management continues to evaluate the impact of its future adoption of this guidance on the Company’s financial statements. ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): “Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” This ASU simplifies the test for goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. In computing the implied fair value of goodwill under Step 2, an entity was required to perform procedures to determine the fair value at the impairment testing date of its assets and liabilities (including unrecognized assets and liabilities) following the procedure that would be required in determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. Instead, under the amendments in this update, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An entity should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. In addition, this ASU also eliminated the requirements for any reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount to perform a qualitative assessment and, if it fails that qualitative test, to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. Therefore, the same impairment assessment applies to all reporting units. An entity is required to disclose the amount of goodwill allocated to each reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount of net assets. An entity still has the option to perform the qualitative assessment for a reporting unit to determine if the quantitative impairment test is necessary. On October 16, 2019, the FASB voted in favor of a proposal to defer the effective date of this standard in the same manner it is deferring the effective date of ASC 326. The FASB issued ASU No. 2019-10, which officially delayed the adoption of this standard for smaller reporting companies until fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company qualifies to defer the adoption of this standard and has not yet adopted this standard. The Company does not expect the application of this guidance to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.