Borrowings - Senior Secured Term Loan Facility (Details) - Senior secured term loan facility - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Quarterly payment under original terms as percentage of original principal amount	1.00%
Repayments of debt	$ 0	$ 0

Represents the percentage of the original principal amount that the company is required to pay as quarterly installments under the original terms of debt instrument.

No definition available.

Name:	fdc_DebtInstrumentQuarterlyPaymentUnderOriginalTermsAsPercentageOfOriginalPrincipalAmount
Namespace Prefix:	fdc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration