Revenue from contracts with customers - Revenue streams (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Service charges on deposit accounts
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	$ 41,659	$ 38,691
BPPR
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	87,435	81,768
BPPR | Service charges on deposit accounts
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	38,331	35,064
BPPR | Debit card fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	9,999	10,899
BPPR | Insurance fees, excluding reinsurance
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	7,688	7,445
BPPR | Credit card fees excluding late fees and membership fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	19,768	18,286
BPPR | Sale and administration of investment products
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	6,263	5,259
BPPR | Trust fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	5,386	4,815
Popular U.S.
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	4,545	4,884
Popular U.S. | Service charges on deposit accounts
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	3,328	3,627
Popular U.S. | Debit card fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	238	271
Popular U.S. | Insurance fees, excluding reinsurance
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	737	770
Popular U.S. | Credit card fees excluding late fees and membership fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	242	216
Popular U.S. | Sale and administration of investment products
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	0	0
Popular U.S. | Trust fees
Revenue From Contract With Customer Excluding Assessed Tax	$ 0	$ 0