Commitments and contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		4 Months Ended																		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014 D		Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013		Mar. 31, 2014 Pending Litigation Against Multiple Defendants [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Minimum Member	Mar. 31, 2014 Maximum Member	Mar. 31, 2014 Parent Company [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Parent Company [Member]	May 02, 2014 Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] Arbitration With F D I C Regarding Reimbursement For Westernbank Loans [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] Arbitration With F D I C Regarding Reimbursement For Westernbank Loans [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member] Housing Bonds backed by GNMA, FNMA or residential CMOs	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member] Housing Bonds backed by GNMA, FNMA or residential CMOs	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member] Long-term Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member] Long-term Debt [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member] From PR Government And Public Corporations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member] From PR Government And Public Corporations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member] From Municipalities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member] From Municipalities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Outstanding Balance [Member] Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Total [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Total [Member] Government PR Government Direct Exposure [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Total [Member] Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Total [Member] Government PR Government Indirect Exposure [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Credit Concentration Risk Member Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Segment Member	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Concentration Risk Member Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Segment Member	Mar. 31, 2014 Commitments To Extend Credit Member	Dec. 31, 2013 Commitments To Extend Credit Member	Mar. 31, 2014 David Alvarez [Member] Bpna [Member]
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Reserve of potential losses associated with unfunded loan commitments																															$ 4,000,000	$ 7,000,000
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance Sheet Amount	10,000,000			10,000,000
Estimate of possible loss	126,000,000			128,000,000
Fair Value Concentration Of Risk Loans Receivable																													13,500,000,000	13,400,000,000
Concentration Risk Percentage																													63.00%	62.00%
Concentration Of Risk Credit Facilities													48,000,000	52,000,000	38,000,000	34,000,000	944,000,000	950,000,000	520,000,000	527,000,000	424,000,000	423,000,000			1,100,000,000	1,200,000,000	363,000,000	360,000,000
True Up Payment Term	45
Loss Contingency Range Of Possible Loss Portion Not Accrued							0	43,000,000
Loans and Leases Receivable, Consumer, Mortgage with PRHA																							277,000,000	274,000,000
Unreimbursed Claims Late Stage Real State Collateral Dependent Loans											175,700,000
F D I C Indemnification Asset Cash Payments Received	(81,327,000)		107,000						0	0	28,000,000
Total Unreimbursed F D I C Shared Loss Claims											252,600,000	280,600,000
Methodology Computation Charge Offs											128,300,000
Loans And Leases Receivable Net Of Deferred Income	21,611,777,000	[1]		21,611,866,000	[1]												781,000,000	789,000,000
Investments																	163,000,000	161,000,000
Loss Contingency Aggregate Claims Damages Sought						65,000,000
Loss Contingency Claim Damages Sought						$ 60,000,000
Loss Contingency, Allegations																																	On May 6, 2014, a putative class action captioned David Alvarez, et al. v. Banco Popular North America was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. Plaintiffs generally assert that BPNA has engaged in purported violations of §2954.8(a) of the California Civil Code and §17200 et seq. of the California Business Professions Code, which allegedly require financial institutions that make loans secured by certain types of real property located within the state of California to pay interest to borrowers on impound account deposits at a statutory rate of not less than two percent (2%). Plaintiffs maintain that BPNA has not paid interest on such deposits and demand that BPNA be enjoined from engaging in further violations of these provisions and pay an unspecified amount of damages sufficient to repay the unpaid interest on these deposits. BPNA has not yet been served.
Loss Contingency, Laws Affected																																	§2954.8(a) of the California Civil Code and §17200 et seq. of the California Business Professions Code

[1] Non-covered loans held-in-portfolio at March 31, 2014 are net of $91 million in unearned income and exclude $95 million in loans held-for-sale. (December 31, 2013 - $92 million in unearned income and $110 million in loans held-for-sale.)