Segment reporting - Results of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	$ 473,095	$ 470,963
Provision for credit losses	189,731	41,825
Non interest Income	126,643	136,430
Amortization of intangibles	2,473	2,312
Depreciation expense	14,486	14,295
Other operating expenses	355,649	330,813
Income tax expense (benefit)	3,097	50,223
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	34,302	167,925
Segment assets	52,803,639	48,680,607	$ 52,115,324
Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	482,318	480,189
Provision for credit losses	189,573	41,720
Non interest Income	117,234	126,493
Amortization of intangibles	2,449	2,288
Depreciation expense	14,240	14,107
Other operating expenses	355,434	329,171
Income tax expense (benefit)	3,150	50,591
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	34,706	168,805
Segment assets	52,476,117	48,368,768
Intersegment Elimination
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	3	4
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(140)	(141)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(137)	(136)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	0	(1)
Segment assets	(23,284)	(113,126)
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	(9,223)	(9,226)
Provision for credit losses	158	105
Non interest Income	9,461	10,061
Amortization of intangibles	24	24
Depreciation expense	246	188
Other operating expenses	1,037	2,358
Income tax expense (benefit)	(322)	(586)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	(905)	(1,254)
Segment assets	5,241,196	5,021,367
Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(52)	(124)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(822)	(716)
Income tax expense (benefit)	269	218
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	501	374
Segment assets	(4,913,674)	(4,709,528)
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	409,626	407,357
Provision for credit losses	113,582	31,349
Non interest Income	112,142	120,770
Amortization of intangibles	2,282	2,122
Depreciation expense	12,287	11,939
Other operating expenses	300,377	280,698
Income tax expense (benefit)	15,101	45,376
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	78,139	156,643
Segment assets	42,392,356	38,896,514
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Commercial Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	161,534	151,460
Provision for credit losses	10,313	(1,992)
Non interest Income	24,712	23,589
Amortization of intangibles	48	49
Depreciation expense	5,150	4,654
Other operating expenses	74,875	72,929
Income tax expense (benefit)	25,616	31,194
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	70,244	68,215
Segment assets	33,212,687	29,478,917
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Consumer and Retail Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	243,056	254,668
Provision for credit losses	103,269	33,341
Non interest Income	63,984	75,404
Amortization of intangibles	1,310	1,072
Depreciation expense	6,978	7,127
Other operating expenses	202,042	192,670
Income tax expense (benefit)	(12,952)	11,743
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	6,393	84,119
Segment assets	24,388,065	23,039,995
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Other Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	5,036	1,318
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	23,740	22,534
Amortization of intangibles	924	1,001
Depreciation expense	159	158
Other operating expenses	23,769	15,827
Income tax expense (benefit)	2,437	2,439
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	1,487	4,427
Segment assets	3,080,386	327,487
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	(89)
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(294)	(757)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(309)	(728)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	15	(118)
Segment assets	(18,288,782)	(13,949,885)
PB | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	72,689	72,828
Provision for credit losses	75,991	10,371
Non interest Income	5,232	5,864
Amortization of intangibles	167	166
Depreciation expense	1,953	2,168
Other operating expenses	55,194	48,609
Income tax expense (benefit)	(11,951)	5,215
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	(43,433)	12,163
Segment assets	$ 10,107,045	$ 9,585,380