Results of Operations (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	$ 343,426	$ 369,311	$ 1,022,208	$ 1,087,212
Provision for loan losses	106,208	176,276	326,130	395,912
Noninterest Income	115,709	122,390	333,341	410,918
Amortization of intangibles	2,481	2,463	7,605	6,973
Depreciation expense	11,671	11,414	34,953	34,864
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	43	109	25,184	8,637
Other operating expenses	276,160	268,369	846,659	788,730
Income tax expense	15,384	5,537	(46,317)	114,664
Net income	47,188	27,533	161,335	148,350
Assets	36,503,366		36,503,366		37,348,432
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	300,862	321,586	889,424	942,198
Provision for loan losses	92,439	156,630	281,986	343,210
Noninterest Income	113,532	117,626	311,863	352,497
Amortization of intangibles	1,801	1,783	5,565	4,933
Depreciation expense	9,368	9,133	27,992	27,866
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	43	109	25,184	637
Other operating expenses	220,430	210,230	673,747	604,626
Income tax expense	17,090	7,149	(39,281)	115,817
Net income	73,223	54,178	226,094	197,606
Assets	27,682,822		27,682,822
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Commercial Banking [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	102,394	128,265	311,671	386,684
Provision for loan losses	55,300	109,364	111,723	241,550
Noninterest Income	13,650	40,653	32,660	127,992
Amortization of intangibles	2	26	12	78
Depreciation expense	4,238	4,173	12,610	12,717
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	43	109	7,905	637
Other operating expenses	69,040	62,135	204,289	177,400
Income tax expense	(6,007)	(5,652)	(26,397)	52,338
Net income	(6,572)	(1,237)	34,189	29,956
Assets	12,916,405		12,916,405
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Consumer And Retail Banking [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	195,952	190,093	568,154	547,257
Provision for loan losses	37,139	47,266	170,263	101,660
Noninterest Income	74,111	48,201	196,228	149,609
Amortization of intangibles	1,708	1,599	5,126	4,389
Depreciation expense	4,886	4,716	14,662	14,430
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	17,279	0
Other operating expenses	135,179	131,434	418,323	380,017
Income tax expense	20,119	8,644	(23,240)	54,007
Net income	71,032	44,635	161,969	142,363
Assets	19,835,054		19,835,054
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Other Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	2,516	3,216	9,595	8,164
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	25,809	28,818	83,079	74,883
Amortization of intangibles	91	158	427	466
Depreciation expense	244	244	720	719
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	16,249	16,704	51,239	47,350
Income tax expense	2,978	4,153	10,354	9,375
Net income	8,763	10,775	29,934	25,137
Assets	603,436		603,436
Banco Popular De Puerto Rico [Member] | Consolidation Eliminations Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	0	12	4	93
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	(38)	(46)	(104)	13
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	(38)	(43)	(104)	(141)
Income tax expense	0	4	2	97
Net income	0	5	2	150
Assets	(5,672,073)		(5,672,073)
Banco Popular North America [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	69,598	73,487	213,228	222,902
Provision for loan losses	13,851	19,646	43,877	52,702
Noninterest Income	11,481	17,711	42,187	54,255
Amortization of intangibles	680	680	2,040	2,040
Depreciation expense	2,000	1,901	6,017	5,745
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	0
Other operating expenses	54,942	59,484	172,127	180,419
Income tax expense	937	937	2,809	2,809
Net income	8,669	8,550	28,545	33,442
Assets	8,572,541		8,572,541
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	(1,107,330)		(1,107,330)
Banco Popular North America [Member] | Popular Community Bank [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	68,639	72,806	210,705	221,307
Provision for loan losses	8,294	15,668	31,180	34,579
Noninterest Income	9,470	17,481	39,207	53,209
Amortization of intangibles	680	680	2,040	2,040
Depreciation expense	2,000	1,901	6,017	5,745
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Other operating expenses	54,430	58,139	169,976	172,179
Income tax expense	937	937	2,809	2,809
Net income	11,768	12,962	37,890	57,164
Assets	9,298,408		9,298,408
Banco Popular North America [Member] | E Loan Inc [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	959	681	2,523	1,595
Provision for loan losses	5,557	3,978	12,697	18,123
Noninterest Income	2,011	230	2,980	1,046
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Other operating expenses	512	1,345	2,151	8,240
Income tax expense	0	0	0	0
Net income	(3,099)	(4,412)	(9,345)	(23,722)
Assets	381,463		381,463
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	(10,735)		(10,735)
Reportable Segments Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	370,460	395,073	1,102,652	1,165,100
Provision for loan losses	106,290	176,276	325,863	395,912
Noninterest Income	125,013	135,337	354,050	406,752
Amortization of intangibles	2,481	2,463	7,605	6,973
Depreciation expense	11,368	11,034	34,009	33,611
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	43	109	25,184	637
Other operating expenses	275,372	269,714	845,874	785,045
Income tax expense	18,027	8,086	(36,472)	118,626
Net income	81,892	62,728	254,639	231,048
Assets	36,244,628		36,244,628
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	(27,218)	(25,992)	(81,035)	(78,640)
Provision for loan losses	(82)	0	267	0
Noninterest Income	7,514	3,465	30,353	55,488
Amortization of intangibles	0	0	0	0
Depreciation expense	303	380	944	1,253
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	0	8,000
Other operating expenses	18,197	15,801	52,376	55,922
Income tax expense	(2,851)	(2,873)	(10,108)	(4,587)
Net income	(35,271)	(35,835)	(94,161)	(83,740)
Assets	5,310,533		5,310,533
Consolidation Eliminations Member
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest income	184	230	591	752
Provision for loan losses	0	0	0	0
Noninterest Income	(16,818)	(16,412)	(51,062)	(51,322)
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	(17,409)	(17,146)	(51,591)	(52,237)
Income tax expense	208	324	263	625
Net income	567	640	857	1,042
Assets	$ (5,051,795)		$ (5,051,795)