Condensed Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantor and Issuers of Registered Guaranteed Securities - Additional Information (Detail) (Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, USD $) In Millions	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Approximate dividend that could have been declared to Popular, Inc. Holding Company upon approval by the Federal Reserve Board	$ 197	$ 78	$ 96

The amount of dividends that can be declared or paid with approval of relevant regulatory agencies.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Article 4
-Section 08
-Paragraph e

Reference 2: 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.(e))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6881521&loc=d3e23780-122690

Name:	us-gaap_AmountAvailableForDividendDistributionWithApprovalFromRegulatoryAgencies
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant