Segment Reporting and Major Customers - Operating Results (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 271,957	$ 238,226
Share-based compensation	6,295	9,047
Operating income	188,271	167,183
Nonoperating expenses, net	(37,642)	(29,903)
Income before income taxes and equity in income of equity investments	150,629	137,280
Net revenue	935,497	832,892
Add: reimbursable items, interchange and assessment expenses	51,673	351,833
Total revenues	$ 987,170	$ 1,184,725
Operating margin on net revenue	29.10%	28.60%
Issuer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	$ 457,359	$ 423,881
Merchant Solutions
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	319,423	563,786
Netspend
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	210,388	197,058
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Net revenue	951,466	845,281
Operating Segments \| Issuer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	150,991	133,873
Net revenue	$ 423,574	$ 387,255
Operating margin on net revenue	35.60%	34.60%
Operating Segments \| Merchant Solutions
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 110,014	$ 91,279
Net revenue	$ 317,403	$ 260,561
Operating margin on net revenue	34.70%	35.00%
Operating Segments \| Netspend
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 49,353	$ 48,648
Net revenue	$ 210,489	$ 197,465
Operating margin on net revenue	23.40%	24.60%
Corporate Administration and Other
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ (38,401)	$ (35,574)
Intersegment
Segment Reporting
Net revenue	15,969	12,389
Segment Reconciling Items
Segment Reporting
TransFirst and Cayan merger & acquisition (M&A) and integration expenses	14,368	4,868
Litigation, claims, judgements or settlements		1,961
Acquisition intangible amortization	$ 63,023	$ 55,167

The amount of adjusted Operating income calculated during the reporting period.

No definition available.

Name:	tss_AdjustedOperatingIncome
Namespace Prefix:	tss_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents total revenues less reimbursable items (such as postage), as well as, merchant acquiring interchange and assessment fees charged by the card associations or payment networks that are recorded as expense.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tss_AdjustedRevenues
Namespace Prefix:	tss_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Operating Income (Loss), Percent of Net Sales

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tss_OperatingIncomeLossPercentOfNetSales
Namespace Prefix:	tss_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Reimbursable items, including interchange and payment network fees.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tss_ReimbursableInterchangeAndAssessmentExpenses
Namespace Prefix:	tss_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the expense recognized during the period arising from equity-based compensation arrangements (for example, shares of stock, unit, stock options or other equity instruments) with employees, directors and certain consultants qualifying for treatment as employees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 14.F)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27013229&loc=d3e301413-122809

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=96867065&loc=d3e5047-113901

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(1)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=96867065&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16225-109274

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Costs incurred to effect a business combination which have been expensed during the period. Such costs could include business integration costs, systems integration and conversion costs, and severance and other employee-related costs.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationIntegrationRelatedCosts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) recognized in settlement of litigation and insurance claims. Excludes claims within an insurance entity's normal claims settlement process.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14326-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossRelatedToLitigationSettlement
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations before deduction of income tax expense (benefit) and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, and addition of income (loss) from equity method investments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesMinorityInterestAndIncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate amount of income or expense from ancillary business-related activities (that is to say, excluding major activities considered part of the normal operations of the business).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.7)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Revenues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
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_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=tss_IssuerSolutionsSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=tss_MerchantSolutionsSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=tss_NetspendSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_OperatingSegmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_CorporateNonSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_IntersegmentEliminationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_MaterialReconcilingItemsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: