General and Basis of Presentation (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) item	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) item	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Number of ATMs operated by entity	230,000		230,000
Number of ATMs under service contracts	140,000		140,000
Number of ATMs under branding contracts with financial institutions	20,000		20,000
Number of financial institutions participating in branding contracts	500		500
Number of ATMs participating in surcharge free network			55,000
Depreciation and accretion expenses related to ATMs and ATM-related assets | $	$ 22,462	$ 22,180	$ 68,874	$ 66,488
Amortization of intangible assets | $	12,994	14,996	40,263	45,423
Total depreciation, accretion, and amortization of intangible assets excluded from Cost of ATM operating revenues | $	$ 35,456	$ 37,176	$ 109,137	$ 111,911
Minimum
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Number of financial institutions participating in surcharge free network			1,100
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	30.00%
North America | Sales Revenue, Net [Member] | Geographic Concentration Risk [Member]
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	61.00%
Cardtronics Mexico
General And Basis Of Presentation1 [Line Items]
Ownership in subsidiary, as a percent	95.70%		95.70%