Line of Business Information (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 lines_of_business	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Lines of business	2
Servicing fees	$ 4,414,000,000	$ 4,382,000,000	$ 3,938,000,000
Management fees	993,000,000	917,000,000	829,000,000
Trading services	1,010,000,000	1,220,000,000	1,106,000,000
Securities finance	405,000,000	378,000,000	318,000,000
Processing fees and other	266,000,000	297,000,000	349,000,000
Total fee revenue	7,088,000,000	7,194,000,000	6,540,000,000
Net interest revenue	2,538,000,000	2,333,000,000	2,699,000,000
Gains (losses) related to investment securities, net	23,000,000	67,000,000	(286,000,000)
Total revenue	9,649,000,000	9,594,000,000	8,953,000,000
Provision for loan losses	(3,000,000)	0	25,000,000
Expenses from operations	6,905,000,000	6,789,000,000	6,176,000,000
Securities lending charge	0	0	414,000,000
Claims resolution	(362,000,000)	0	0
Provision for litigation exposure and other costs	118,000,000	0	0
Acquisition and restructuring costs	225,000,000	269,000,000	252,000,000
Total expenses	6,886,000,000	7,058,000,000	6,842,000,000
Income before income tax expense	2,766,000,000	2,536,000,000	2,086,000,000
Pre-tax margin	29.00%	26.00%	23.00%
Boston Financial Data Services and International Financial Data Services Group
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percentage of affiliated owned	50.00%
Investment Servicing and Investment Management [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percentage of consolidated revenues by line of business	67.00%
Investment Servicing
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Servicing fees	4,414,000,000	4,382,000,000	3,938,000,000
Management fees	0	0	0
Trading services	1,010,000,000	1,220,000,000	1,106,000,000
Securities finance	363,000,000	333,000,000	265,000,000
Processing fees and other	161,000,000	195,000,000	225,000,000
Total fee revenue	5,948,000,000	6,130,000,000	5,534,000,000
Net interest revenue	2,456,000,000	2,231,000,000	2,553,000,000
Gains (losses) related to investment securities, net	69,000,000	67,000,000	58,000,000
Total revenue	8,473,000,000	8,428,000,000	8,145,000,000
Provision for loan losses	(3,000,000)	0	25,000,000
Expenses from operations	6,033,000,000	5,890,000,000	5,430,000,000
Securities lending charge	0	0	75,000,000
Claims resolution	0	0	0
Provision for litigation exposure and other costs	0	0	0
Acquisition and restructuring costs	0	0	0
Total expenses	6,033,000,000	5,890,000,000	5,505,000,000
Income before income tax expense	2,443,000,000	2,538,000,000	2,615,000,000
Pre-tax margin	29.00%	30.00%	32.00%
Investment Management
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Servicing fees	0	0	0
Management fees	993,000,000	917,000,000	829,000,000
Trading services	0	0	0
Securities finance	42,000,000	45,000,000	53,000,000
Processing fees and other	105,000,000	102,000,000	124,000,000
Total fee revenue	1,140,000,000	1,064,000,000	1,006,000,000
Net interest revenue	82,000,000	102,000,000	146,000,000
Gains (losses) related to investment securities, net	0	0	0
Total revenue	1,222,000,000	1,166,000,000	1,152,000,000
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0
Expenses from operations	872,000,000	899,000,000	753,000,000
Securities lending charge	0	0	339,000,000
Claims resolution	0	0	0
Provision for litigation exposure and other costs	0	0	0
Acquisition and restructuring costs	0	0	0
Total expenses	872,000,000	899,000,000	1,092,000,000
Income before income tax expense	350,000,000	267,000,000	60,000,000
Pre-tax margin	29.00%	23.00%	5.00%
Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percentage of consolidated revenues by line of business	33.00%
Servicing fees	0	0	0
Management fees	0	0	0
Trading services	0	0	0
Securities finance	0	0	0
Processing fees and other	0	0	0
Total fee revenue	0	0	0
Net interest revenue	0	0	0
Gains (losses) related to investment securities, net	(46,000,000)	0	(344,000,000)
Total revenue	(46,000,000)	0	(344,000,000)
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0
Expenses from operations	0	0	(7,000,000)
Securities lending charge	0	0	0
Claims resolution	(362,000,000)	0	0
Provision for litigation exposure and other costs	118,000,000	0	0
Acquisition and restructuring costs	225,000,000	269,000,000	252,000,000
Total expenses	(19,000,000)	269,000,000	245,000,000
Income before income tax expense	(27,000,000)	(269,000,000)	(589,000,000)
Year To Date [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Average assets	193,800,000,000	174,800,000,000	152,000,000,000
Year To Date [Member] | Investment Servicing
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Average assets	189,800,000,000	170,400,000,000	146,900,000,000
Year To Date [Member] | Investment Management
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Average assets	$ 4,000,000,000	$ 4,400,000,000	$ 5,100,000,000