Results of Operations (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	$ 341,200	$ 374,542	$ 678,782	$ 717,901
Provision for loan losses	119,199	144,317	219,922	219,636
Noninterest Income	93,724	124,160	217,632	288,528
Amortization of intangibles	2,531	2,255	5,124	4,510
Depreciation expense	11,526	11,390	23,282	23,450
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	25,072	289	25,141	8,528
Other operating expenses	288,750	267,866	570,499	520,361
Income tax expense	(77,893)	(38,100)	(61,701)	109,127
Net income	65,739	110,685	114,147	120,817
Assets	36,612,179		36,612,179		37,348,432
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	298,455	325,167	588,562	620,612
Provision for loan losses	103,690	119,324	189,547	186,580
Noninterest Income	84,597	113,144	198,331	234,871
Amortization of intangibles	1,851	1,575	3,764	3,150
Depreciation expense	9,237	9,101	18,624	18,733
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	25,072	289	25,141	528
Other operating expenses	230,960	205,666	453,317	394,396
Income tax expense	(73,724)	(37,476)	(56,371)	108,668
Net income	85,966	139,832	152,871	143,428
Assets	27,720,852		27,720,852
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Commercial Banking [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	109,081	138,859	209,277	258,419
Provision for loan losses	42,725	104,291	56,423	132,186
Noninterest Income	(2,082)	41,981	19,010	87,339
Amortization of intangibles	1	26	10	52
Depreciation expense	4,204	4,165	8,372	8,544
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	7,793	289	7,862	528
Other operating expenses	74,068	60,357	135,249	115,265
Income tax expense	(30,152)	(18,850)	(20,390)	57,990
Net income	8,360	30,562	40,761	31,193
Assets	13,102,525		13,102,525
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Consumer And Retail Banking [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	185,944	183,694	372,202	357,164
Provision for loan losses	60,965	15,033	133,124	54,394
Noninterest Income	56,113	46,507	122,117	101,408
Amortization of intangibles	1,710	1,396	3,418	2,790
Depreciation expense	4,797	4,698	9,776	9,714
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	17,279	0	17,279	0
Other operating expenses	139,297	130,356	283,144	248,583
Income tax expense	(47,660)	(21,481)	(43,359)	45,363
Net income	65,669	100,199	90,937	97,728
Assets	19,792,243		19,792,243
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Other Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	3,430	2,574	7,079	4,948
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	30,606	24,542	57,270	46,065
Amortization of intangibles	140	153	336	308
Depreciation expense	236	238	476	475
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	17,635	14,996	34,990	30,646
Income tax expense	4,088	2,778	7,376	5,222
Net income	11,937	8,951	21,171	14,362
Assets	610,310		610,310
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Consolidation Eliminations Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	0	40	4	81
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	(40)	114	(66)	59
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(40)	(43)	(66)	(98)
Income tax expense	0	77	2	93
Net income	0	120	2	145
Assets	(5,784,226)		(5,784,226)
Banco Popular North America [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	69,555	74,601	143,630	149,415
Provision for loan losses	15,300	24,993	30,026	33,056
Noninterest Income	15,250	19,127	30,706	36,544
Amortization of intangibles	680	680	1,360	1,360
Depreciation expense	1,988	1,853	4,017	3,844
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	55,303	62,708	117,185	120,935
Income tax expense	936	934	1,872	1,872
Net income	10,598	2,560	19,876	24,892
Assets	8,643,799		8,643,799
Banco Popular North America [Member] | Consolidation Eliminations Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	0	0	0	0
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Other operating expenses	0	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0	0
Net income	0	0	0	0
Assets	(1,122,642)		(1,122,642)
Banco Popular North America [Member] | Popular Community Bank [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	68,459	74,201	142,066	148,501
Provision for loan losses	13,490	18,306	22,886	18,911
Noninterest Income	14,445	18,354	29,737	35,728
Amortization of intangibles	680	680	1,360	1,360
Depreciation expense	1,988	1,853	4,017	3,844
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Other operating expenses	54,523	58,085	115,546	114,040
Income tax expense	936	934	1,872	1,872
Net income	11,287	12,697	26,122	44,202
Assets	9,366,898		9,366,898
Banco Popular North America [Member] | E Loan Inc [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	1,096	400	1,564	914
Provision for loan losses	1,810	6,687	7,140	14,145
Noninterest Income	805	773	969	816
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Other operating expenses	780	4,623	1,639	6,895
Income tax expense	0	0	0	0
Net income	(689)	(10,137)	(6,246)	(19,310)
Assets	399,543		399,543
Business Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	0	0	0	0
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	0	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0	0
Net income	0	0	0	0
Assets	(15,440)		(15,440)
Reportable Segments Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	368,010	399,768	732,192	770,027
Provision for loan losses	118,990	144,317	219,573	219,636
Noninterest Income	99,847	132,271	229,037	271,415
Amortization of intangibles	2,531	2,255	5,124	4,510
Depreciation expense	11,225	10,954	22,641	22,577
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	25,072	289	25,141	528
Other operating expenses	286,263	268,374	570,502	515,331
Income tax expense	(72,788)	(36,542)	(54,499)	110,540
Net income	96,564	142,392	172,747	168,320
Assets	36,349,211		36,349,211
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	(27,001)	(25,441)	(53,817)	(52,648)
Provision for loan losses	209	0	349	0
Noninterest Income	11,333	9,781	22,839	52,023
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	301	436	641	873
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	8,000
Other operating expenses	19,353	17,028	34,179	40,121
Income tax expense	(4,961)	(1,556)	(7,257)	(1,714)
Net income	(30,570)	(31,568)	(58,890)	(47,905)
Assets	5,319,296		5,319,296
Consolidation Eliminations Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	191	215	407	522
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	(17,456)	(17,892)	(34,244)	(34,910)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	(16,866)	(17,536)	(34,182)	(35,091)
Income tax expense	(144)	(2)	55	301
Net income	(255)	(139)	290	402
Assets	$ (5,056,328)		$ (5,056,328)