Long-Term Debt - Carrying Amounts and Effective Interest Rates (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 22,776	$ 23,769
BB&T Corporation fixed rate senior notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 7,685	$ 7,831
Effective Rate	2.00%	2.35%
BB&T Corporation floating rate senior notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 1,049	$ 1,050
Effective Rate	1.54%	1.20%
BB&T Corporation fixed rate subordinated notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 1,371	$ 1,382
Effective Rate	1.04%	1.52%
Branch Bank fixed rate senior notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 4,751	$ 4,071
Effective Rate	1.47%	1.62%
Branch Bank floating rate senior notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 625	$ 375
Effective Rate	1.33%	0.92%
Branch Bank fixed rate subordinated notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 2,288	$ 2,562
Effective Rate	2.63%	3.13%
Branch Bank floating rate subordinated notes
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 262	$ 612
Effective Rate	3.82%	3.24%
FHLB Advances
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 4,590	$ 5,732
Effective Rate	3.87%	4.02%
Weighted average maturity of FHLB advances	5 years 2 months 12 days
Other long-term debt
Debt Instruments [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 155	$ 154