Carrying amount of goodwill by reportable segments and Corporate group (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	$ 465,676us-gaap_Goodwill		$ 647,757us-gaap_Goodwill
Goodwil, Acquired During Period	42,634us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod		0us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments	0		0
Other	0us-gaap_GoodwillOtherChanges		0us-gaap_GoodwillOtherChanges
Ending Balance	508,310us-gaap_Goodwill		647,757us-gaap_Goodwill
Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill Written Off Related To Business Unit To Be Disposed	0	187,000	0
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	250,109		245,679
Goodwil, Acquired During Period	3,899		0
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments	0		0
Other	0		0
Ending Balance	254,008		245,679
Banco Popular North America [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	215,567		402,078
Goodwil, Acquired During Period	38,735		0
Goodwill Purchase Accounting Adjustments	0		0
Other	0		0
Ending Balance	$ 254,302		$ 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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