Segment reporting - Results of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	$ 461,021	$ 476,991	$ 1,384,997	$ 1,424,270
Provision for credit losses	19,138	36,539	271,318	118,555
Non interest Income	128,767	142,712	367,465	417,468
Amortization of intangibles	1,076	2,399	5,345	7,082
Depreciation expense	14,518	14,204	43,419	42,928
Other operating expenses	345,472	359,872	1,033,141	1,036,900
Income tax expense (benefit)	41,168	41,370	68,893	131,923
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	168,416	165,319	330,346	504,350
Segment assets	65,910,369	52,480,415	65,910,369	52,480,415	$ 52,115,324
Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	471,145	486,577	1,414,335	1,452,891
Provision for credit losses	19,058	36,541	271,101	118,298
Non interest Income	114,625	130,681	333,939	385,914
Amortization of intangibles	1,052	2,375	5,272	7,009
Depreciation expense	14,259	14,018	42,678	42,369
Other operating expenses	347,071	361,295	1,036,779	1,039,498
Income tax expense (benefit)	41,184	41,502	69,706	132,941
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	163,146	161,527	322,738	498,690
Segment assets	65,581,429	52,161,404	65,581,429	52,161,404
Intersegment Elimination
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	2	4	9	(53)
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Non interest Income	(138)	(140)	(414)	(421)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(136)	(136)	(408)	(409)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	0	0	3	(65)
Segment assets	(28,177)	(14,414)	(28,177)	(14,414)
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	(10,124)	(9,586)	(29,338)	(28,621)
Provision for credit losses	80	(2)	217	257
Non interest Income	14,230	12,137	35,645	33,537
Amortization of intangibles	24	24	73	73
Depreciation expense	259	186	741	559
Other operating expenses	(748)	(647)	(1,056)	(233)
Income tax expense (benefit)	(312)	(392)	(964)	(1,158)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	4,803	3,382	7,296	5,418
Segment assets	5,201,316	5,134,608	5,201,316	5,134,608
Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Non interest Income	(88)	(106)	(2,119)	(1,983)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(851)	(776)	(2,582)	(2,365)
Income tax expense (benefit)	296	260	151	140
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	467	410	312	242
Segment assets	(4,872,376)	(4,815,597)	(4,872,376)	(4,815,597)
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	394,662	412,182	1,191,452	1,231,088
Provision for credit losses	7,288	34,481	180,659	94,651
Non interest Income	107,577	124,868	315,522	369,026
Amortization of intangibles	886	2,208	4,773	6,510
Depreciation expense	11,921	11,972	36,282	36,154
Other operating expenses	292,528	309,815	876,438	887,941
Income tax expense (benefit)	35,834	35,286	69,040	117,413
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	153,782	143,288	339,782	457,445
Segment assets	55,388,782	42,080,292	55,388,782	42,080,292
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Commercial Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	164,791	160,038	486,050	464,441
Provision for credit losses	4,061	(23,619)	23,244	(22,756)
Non interest Income	24,804	25,196	74,771	74,481
Amortization of intangibles	50	50	148	147
Depreciation expense	5,179	5,064	15,406	14,615
Other operating expenses	77,906	82,817	226,232	229,767
Income tax expense (benefit)	32,331	29,340	82,271	88,353
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	70,068	91,582	213,520	228,796
Segment assets	47,920,631	35,590,229	47,920,631	35,590,229
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Consumer and Retail Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	228,293	250,944	694,983	762,913
Provision for credit losses	3,227	58,100	157,415	117,407
Non interest Income	58,955	75,854	170,205	220,064
Amortization of intangibles	699	1,072	2,911	3,218
Depreciation expense	6,569	6,753	20,383	21,071
Other operating expenses	195,624	210,753	587,297	611,348
Income tax expense (benefit)	2,275	2,649	(18,912)	19,878
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	78,854	47,471	116,094	210,055
Segment assets	29,358,230	23,714,260	29,358,230	23,714,260
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Other Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	1,578	1,212	10,419	3,857
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Non interest Income	24,194	24,545	71,459	76,733
Amortization of intangibles	137	1,086	1,714	3,145
Depreciation expense	173	155	493	468
Other operating expenses	19,389	16,986	63,863	49,076
Income tax expense (benefit)	1,228	3,297	5,681	9,182
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	4,845	4,233	10,127	18,719
Segment assets	2,408,998	379,126	2,408,998	379,126
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	(12)	0	(123)
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Non interest Income	(376)	(727)	(913)	(2,252)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(391)	(741)	(954)	(2,250)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	15	2	41	(125)
Segment assets	(24,299,077)	(17,603,323)	(24,299,077)	(17,603,323)
PB | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	76,481	74,391	222,874	221,856
Provision for credit losses	11,770	2,060	90,442	23,647
Non interest Income	7,186	5,953	18,831	17,309
Amortization of intangibles	166	167	499	499
Depreciation expense	2,338	2,046	6,396	6,215
Other operating expenses	54,679	51,616	160,749	151,966
Income tax expense (benefit)	5,350	6,216	666	15,528
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	9,364	18,239	(17,047)	41,310
Segment assets	$ 10,220,824	$ 10,095,526	$ 10,220,824	$ 10,095,526