Income Taxes - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023	Jun. 30, 2022	Jun. 30, 2023	Jun. 30, 2022
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Effective rate (as a percent)	27.60%	27.80%	26.80%	24.90%
Uncertain tax positions, taxes accrued for state tax filing positions	$ 2.5		$ 2.5
Costa Rica \| Tax holiday through December 31, 2026
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Holiday tax rate (as a percent)			100.00%

Unrecognized Tax Benefits, State Income Taxes Accrued

No definition available.

Name:	ecpg_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsStateIncomeTaxesAccrued
Namespace Prefix:	ecpg_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-12

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateContinuingOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to income exempt from income tax because of a tax holiday.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-12

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 6.I.Fact.4)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147479360/740-10-S99-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTaxHolidays
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxContingencyLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_CR
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis=ecpg_TaxHolidayThrough2026MemberMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: