LOANS AND ALLOWANCE FOR LOAN AND LEASE LOSSES - ALLOWANCE ACTIVITY (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				$ 32,920				$ 27,491	$ 32,920	$ 27,491	$ 24,410
Provision for loan and lease losses	$ 6,071	$ 4,221	$ 5,061	12,351	$ 5,004	$ 2,489	$ 1,814	5,186	27,704	14,493	5,396
Charged-off									(21,563)	(11,856)	(3,972)
Recoveries									3,708	2,792	1,657
Ending Balance	42,769				32,920				42,769	32,920	27,491
Core Banking Activities
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				27,928				25,792	27,928	25,792	24,366
Provision for loan and lease losses									3,773	3,945	3,065
Charged-off									(2,783)	(3,382)	(3,001)
Recoveries									1,229	1,573	1,362
Ending Balance	30,147				27,928				30,147	27,928	25,792
Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				26,464				24,825	26,464	24,825	23,567
Provision for loan and lease losses									3,923	3,448	2,897
Charged-off									(2,783)	(3,382)	(3,001)
Recoveries									1,229	1,573	1,362
Ending Balance	28,833				26,464				28,833	26,464	24,825
Warehouse Lending
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Provision for loan and lease losses									(150)	497	168
Republic Processing Group
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				4,992				1,699	4,992	1,699	44
Provision for loan and lease losses									23,931	10,548	2,331
Charged-off									(18,780)	(8,474)	(971)
Recoveries									2,479	1,219	295
Ending Balance	12,622				4,992				12,622	4,992	1,699
Residential Real Estate - Owner Occupied | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				7,158				8,301	7,158	8,301	8,565
Provision for loan and lease losses									(933)	(1,148)	50
Charged-off									(300)	(416)	(622)
Recoveries									257	421	308
Ending Balance	6,182				7,158				6,182	7,158	8,301
Residential Real Estate - Owner Occupied - Correspondent | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				373				623	373	623	567
Provision for loan and lease losses									(81)	(250)	56
Ending Balance	292				373				292	373	623
Residential Real Estate - Non Owner Occupied | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				1,139				1,052	1,139	1,052	837
Provision for loan and lease losses									272	79	331
Charged-off									(30)		(126)
Recoveries									15	8	10
Ending Balance	1,396				1,139				1,396	1,139	1,052
Commercial Real Estate | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				8,078				7,672	8,078	7,672	7,774
Provision for loan and lease losses									826	768	346
Charged-off										(514)	(546)
Recoveries									139	152	98
Ending Balance	9,043				8,078				9,043	8,078	7,672
Construction & land development | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				1,850				1,303	1,850	1,303	926
Provision for loan and lease losses									508	513	377
Charged-off										(44)
Recoveries									6	78
Ending Balance	2,364				1,850				2,364	1,850	1,303
Commercial & industrial | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				1,511				1,455	1,511	1,455	1,167
Provision for loan and lease losses									842	259	282
Charged-off									(189)	(330)	(56)
Recoveries									34	127	62
Ending Balance	2,198				1,511				2,198	1,511	1,455
Commercial & industrial | Republic Processing Group
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				25					25
Provision for loan and lease losses									(13)	25
Ending Balance	12				25				12	25
Lease Financing Receivables | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				136				89	136	89	25
Provision for loan and lease losses									38	47	64
Ending Balance	174				136				174	136	89
Home equity lines of credit | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				3,757				2,996	3,757	2,996	2,730
Provision for loan and lease losses									37	961	584
Charged-off									(222)	(351)	(466)
Recoveries									182	151	148
Ending Balance	3,754				3,757				3,754	3,757	2,996
Consumer: Credit cards | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				490				448	490	448	285
Provision for loan and lease losses									247	154	256
Charged-off									(168)	(164)	(146)
Recoveries									38	52	53
Ending Balance	607				490				607	490	448
Consumer: Overdrafts | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				675				351	675	351	382
Provision for loan and lease losses									1,031	898	255
Charged-off									(960)	(816)	(598)
Recoveries									228	242	312
Ending Balance	974				675				974	675	351
Consumer: Automobile loan | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				526				56	526	56	32
Provision for loan and lease losses									188	481	24
Charged-off									(30)	(12)
Recoveries									3	1
Ending Balance	687				526				687	526	56
Other consumer | Traditional Banking
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				771				479	771	479	277
Provision for loan and lease losses									948	686	272
Charged-off									(884)	(735)	(441)
Recoveries									327	341	371
Ending Balance	1,162				771				1,162	771	479
Warehouse lines of credit | Warehouse Lending
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				1,464				967	1,464	967	799
Provision for loan and lease losses									(150)	497	168
Ending Balance	1,314				1,464				1,314	1,464	967
Easy Advances | Republic Processing Group
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Provision for loan and lease losses									6,789	3,048
Charged-off									(8,121)	(3,474)
Recoveries									1,332	426
Refund Anticipation Loans | Republic Processing Group
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Provision for loan and lease losses									(241)	(301)	(279)
Recoveries									241	301	279
Republic Credit Solutions | Republic Processing Group
Allowance for loan losses rollforward
Beginning Balance				$ 4,967				$ 1,699	4,967	1,699	44
Provision for loan and lease losses									17,396	7,776	2,610
Charged-off									(10,659)	(5,000)	(971)
Recoveries									906	492	16
Ending Balance	$ 12,610				$ 4,967				$ 12,610	$ 4,967	$ 1,699