Note Goodwill and other intangible assets (Carrying amount of goodwill by reportable segments) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	$ 626,388	$ 626,388	$ 465,676
Goodwill on acquisition		0	42,634
Purchase accounting adjustments	4,700	4,707	(2,875)
Ending Balance		631,095	505,435
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	280,221	280,221	250,109
Goodwill on acquisition		0	3,899
Purchase accounting adjustments		0	(2,875)
Ending Balance		280,221	251,133
Banco Popular North America
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	$ 346,167	346,167	215,567
Goodwill on acquisition		0	38,735
Purchase accounting adjustments		4,707	0
Ending Balance		$ 350,874	$ 254,302

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.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&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

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

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+ References

Reference 1: 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=73531572&loc=d3e961-128460

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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