Segment Reporting and Major Customers - Operating Results (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 368,939	$ 345,021	$ 726,226	$ 675,943
Share-based compensation	11,500	14,230	22,214	20,524
Depreciation and amortization	104,773	104,290	208,483	208,679
Contract asset amortization	8,250	6,711	16,288	13,584
Contract cost asset amortization	8,179	8,511	16,024	19,238
Operating income	219,087	208,698	442,357	396,969
Nonoperating expenses, net	(37,416)	(41,170)	(80,407)	(78,812)
Income before income taxes and equity in income of equity investments	181,671	167,528	361,950	318,157
Net revenue	979,920	956,548	1,960,189	1,892,045
Add: reimbursable items	55,565	51,032	109,827	102,705
Total revenues	1,035,485	1,007,580	2,070,016	1,994,750
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Segment Reporting
Share-based compensation	11,500	14,230	22,214	20,524
Issuer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	472,706	458,601	942,865	915,960
Merchant Solutions
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	366,636	348,714	711,817	668,137
Consumer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Total revenues	196,143	200,265	415,334	410,653
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Net revenue	992,798	967,697	1,988,406	1,919,162
Operating Segments \| Issuer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	209,845	195,275	414,779	391,040
Net revenue	$ 432,445	$ 421,015	$ 865,919	$ 844,589
Operating margin on net revenue	48.50%	46.40%	47.90%	46.30%
Operating Segments \| Merchant Solutions
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 138,366	$ 133,418	$ 267,201	$ 252,358
Net revenue	$ 364,210	$ 346,389	$ 707,166	$ 663,792
Operating margin on net revenue	38.00%	38.50%	37.80%	38.00%
Operating Segments \| Consumer Solutions
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ 53,595	$ 54,545	$ 117,288	$ 108,212
Net revenue	$ 196,143	$ 200,293	$ 415,321	$ 410,781
Operating margin on net revenue	27.30%	27.20%	28.20%	26.30%
Corporate Administration and Other \| Corporate administration and other.
Segment Reporting
Adjusted operating income	$ (32,867)	$ (38,217)	$ (73,042)	$ (75,667)
Intersegment
Segment Reporting
Net revenue	12,878	11,149	28,217	27,117
Segment Reconciling Items
Segment Reporting
Merger & acquisition (M&A) and integration expenses2	$ 17,150	$ 2,581	$ 20,860	$ 16,949

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

Refers to amount of amortization for contract assets.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tss_ContractAssetAmortizaton
Namespace Prefix:	tss_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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

Amount of expense for award under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes amount capitalized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116856206&loc=d3e5047-113901

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-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=115993241&loc=d3e301413-122809

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-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=116856206&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense
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 amortization expense for asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 40
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68051541&loc=SL49131252-203054

+ Details

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

- Definition

The aggregate expense recognized in the current period that allocates the cost of tangible assets, intangible assets, or depleting assets to periods that benefit from use of the assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DepreciationDepletionAndAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.7)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116634182&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ 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, including tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value-added and excise.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118956577&loc=SL49130545-203045

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118956577&loc=SL49130543-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax
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_IncomeStatementLocationAxis=us-gaap_SellingGeneralAndAdministrativeExpensesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- 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_ConsumerSolutionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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