General and Basis of Presentation (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Number of ATMs operated by entity	230,000
Number of ATMs under service contracts	135,000
Number of ATMs under branding contracts with financial institutions	20,000
Number of financial institutions participating in branding contracts	500
Number of ATMs participating in surcharge free network	55,000
Depreciation and accretion expenses related to ATMs and ATM-related assets | $	$ 23,375	$ 21,984
Amortization of intangible assets | $	13,771	15,180
Total depreciation, accretion, and amortization of intangible assets excluded from Cost of ATM operating revenues | $	$ 37,146	$ 37,164
Minimum
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Number of financial institutions participating in surcharge free network	1,000
Australia And New Zealand | Sales Revenue, Net [Member] | Geographic Concentration Risk [Member]
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	9.00%
Europe And Africa | Sales Revenue, Net [Member] | Geographic Concentration Risk [Member]
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	29.00%
North America | Sales Revenue, Net [Member] | Geographic Concentration Risk [Member]
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	62.00%
Cardtronics Mexico
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Ownership in subsidiary, as a percent	95.70%