Total cash received from investee

No definition available.

Name:	bpop_CashReceivedFromInvestee
Namespace Prefix:	bpop_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This is the principal amount outstanding for securitized loans only (across all types of loans).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109247956&loc=d3e107314-111719

+ Details

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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

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of Variable Interest Entities (VIE) or potential VIEs for which the necessary information is unable to be obtained to: (1) determine whether the legal entity is a VIE, (2) determine whether it (the reporting entity) is the VIE's primary beneficiary, or (3) perform the accounting required to consolidate the VIE for which it is determined that it (the reporting entity) is the primary beneficiary.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-Subparagraph a
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=d3e5747-111685

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=bpop_PrAssetPortfolio20131InternationalLlcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=bpop_FnmaGnmaFhlmcVieMember
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Period Type:

Non-consolidated variable interest entities - Additional Information (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) NumberOfVIE	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)
Variable Interest Entity
Number of VIEs \| NumberOfVIE	3
PRLP 2011 Holding, LLC
Variable Interest Entity
Equity Method Investment Ownership Percentage	24.90%			24.90%
Cash Received From Investee				$ 48
PR Asset Portfolio 2013-1 International, LLC
Variable Interest Entity
Equity Method Investment Ownership Percentage	24.90%		24.90%
Cash Received From Investee			$ 92
FNMA, GNMA, FHLMC VIE
Variable Interest Entity
Principal Amount Outstanding on Loans Securitized or Asset-backed Financing Arrangement	$ 10,000	$ 10,600