Note Loans (Acquired Loans Accounted for Under ASC Subtopic 310-20) (Detail) - FDIC Assisted Partial Acquisition Of Doral Bank - ASC Subtopic 310-20 $ in Thousands	Feb. 27, 2015 USD ($)
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Fair value of loans accounted under ASC Subtopic 310-20	$ 1,178,543
Gross contractual amounts receivable (principal and interest)	1,666,695
Estimate of contractual cash flows not expected to be collected	$ 34,646

Estimate of contractual cash flows not expected to be collected at acquisition on acquired loans accounted for pursuant to ASC Subtopic 310-20.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bpop_EstimateOfContractualCashFlowsNotExpectedToBeCollected
Namespace Prefix:	bpop_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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_AccountsNotesAndLoansReceivableLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fair value at acquisition of acquired loans not accounted for as debt securities with evidence of deterioration of credit quality.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 15
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27045933&loc=d3e13503-111538

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6379141&loc=d3e15032-111544

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of contractually required payments receivable at acquisition of acquired loans not accounted for as debt securities with evidence of deterioration of credit quality.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6379141&loc=d3e15032-111544

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 30
-Section 15
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27045933&loc=d3e13503-111538

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=bpop_FdicAssistedPartialAcquisitionOfDoralBankMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AdjustmentsForNewAccountingPronouncementsAxis=bpop_SCSubtopic31020Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: