Amount of goodwill arising from a business combination, which is the excess of the cost of the acquired entity over the amounts assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 52

-Subparagraph c

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 53

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionPurchasePriceAllocationGoodwillAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Goodwill - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
Goodwill - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 ProPay and CPAY	Dec. 31, 2011 TermNet Merchant Services, Inc.	May 02, 2011 TermNet Merchant Services, Inc.	Sep. 30, 2010 TSYS POS Systems and Services LLC
Goodwill [Line Items]
Business acquisition, goodwill		$ 162,100,000	$ 28,900,000	$ 28,918,000
Payment of contingent merger consideration in connection with the purchase of Infonox	6,000,000
Pre-tax goodwill impairment					2,200,000
After-tax goodwill impairment					$ 1,500,000