Note Pledged assets - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Billions	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Financial Instruments Owned and Pledged as Collateral [Line Items]
Pledged Financial Instruments, Not Separately Reported, Loans Receivable, for Other Arrangements	$ 0.5	$ 0.7
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances General Debt Obligations Disclosures Amount Of Available Unused Funds	3.9	3.7
Federal Reserve Bank Advances
Financial Instruments Owned and Pledged as Collateral [Line Items]
Line Of Credit Facility Current Borrowing Capacity	1.3	2.1
Securities Investment
Financial Instruments Owned and Pledged as Collateral [Line Items]
Financial Instruments served as collateral to secure debt obligations	1.5	0.7
Loans Held for Investment
Financial Instruments Owned and Pledged as Collateral [Line Items]
Pledged Financial Instruments, Not Separately Reported, Loans Receivable, for Other Arrangements	2.5	4.1
Pledged Financial Instruments, Not Separately Reported, Loans Receivable, for Federal Home Loan Bank Debt	$ 4.7	$ 4.5

Amount of advances or credit lines available from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.13(3)(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22 (b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479118&loc=d3e64650-112822

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 22
-Article 5

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 03
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph 3(a)
-Article 9

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesGeneralDebtObligationsDisclosuresAmountOfAvailableUnusedFunds
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentsOwnedAndPledgedAsCollateralLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of current borrowing capacity under the credit facility considering any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed (for example, borrowings may be limited by the amount of current assets), but without considering any amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 19, 22
-Article 5

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityCurrentBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying amount, as of the date of the latest financial statement presented, of loans receivable which are owned but transferred to serve as collateral for the payment of FHLB debt obligations, and for which the transferee is not permitted to sell or re-pledge them to an unrelated party.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1A
-Subparagraph (b)(1)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34720971&loc=SL6224234-111729

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PledgedFinancialInstrumentsNotSeparatelyReportedLoansReceivablePledgedForFederalHomeLoanBankDebt
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying amount, as of the date of the latest financial statement presented, of loans receivable which are owned but transferred to serve as collateral for the payment of other debt obligations, and for which the transferee is not permitted to sell or re-pledge them to an unrelated party.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PledgedFinancialInstrumentsNotSeparatelyReportedLoansReceivablePledgedForOtherArrangements
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying amount as of the date of the latest financial statement presented of securities which are owned but transferred to serve as collateral for debt facilities other than FHLB loans, repurchase agreements and letter of credit arrangements, and for which the transferee does not have the right by contract or custom to sell or re-pledge them to an unrelated party.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PledgedFinancialInstrumentsNotSeparatelyReportedSecuritiesForOtherDebtFacilities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_FederalReserveBankAdvancesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentsOwnedAndPledgedAsCollateralAxis=us-gaap_SecuritiesInvestmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentsOwnedAndPledgedAsCollateralAxis=bpop_LoansHeldForInvestmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: