Carrying amount of goodwill by reportable segments and Corporate group (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance		$ 647,757us-gaap_Goodwill	$ 647,757us-gaap_Goodwill
Goodwil, Acquired During Period		4,430us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod	0us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments		0	0
Goodwill Written Off Related To Business Unit To Be Disposed	186,500	186,511	0	0
Other		0us-gaap_GoodwillOtherChanges	0us-gaap_GoodwillOtherChanges
Ending Balance		465,676us-gaap_Goodwill	647,757us-gaap_Goodwill	647,757us-gaap_Goodwill
Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill Written Off Related To Business Unit To Be Disposed		186,511	0
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance		245,679	245,679
Goodwil, Acquired During Period		4,430	0
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments		0	0
Goodwill Written Off Related To Business Unit To Be Disposed		0
Other		0	0
Ending Balance		250,109	245,679
Banco Popular North America [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance		402,078	402,078
Goodwil, Acquired During Period		0	0
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments		0	0
Goodwill Written Off Related To Business Unit To Be Disposed		(186,511)
Other		0	0
Ending Balance		$ 215,567	$ 402,078

Write-off of the carrying amount of goodwill associated with all or a portion of a reporting unit to be disposed.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=14024403&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 45

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of other (increase) decrease of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) from adjustments after acquisition date under purchase accounting of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (g)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=14024403&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 10

-Section 25

-Paragraph 16

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=21917927&loc=d3e961-128460

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- Details

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- Details

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