Segment reporting - Results of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2020
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	$ 479,112	$ 473,095
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(82,226)	189,731
Non interest Income	153,653	126,643
Amortization of intangibles	1,051	2,473
Depreciation expense	14,738	14,486
Other operating expenses	359,739	355,649
Income tax expense (benefit)	76,831	3,097
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	262,632	34,302
Segment assets	66,870,268	52,803,639	$ 65,926,000
Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	489,494	482,318
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(82,081)	189,573
Non interest Income	140,736	117,234
Amortization of intangibles	1,027	2,449
Depreciation expense	14,471	14,240
Other operating expenses	359,978	355,434
Income tax expense (benefit)	76,848	3,150
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	259,987	34,706
Segment assets	66,506,939	52,476,117
Intersegment Elimination
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	2	3
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(138)	(140)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(136)	(137)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	0	0
Segment assets	(41,613)	(23,284)
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	(10,382)	(9,223)
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(145)	158
Non interest Income	13,150	9,461
Amortization of intangibles	24	24
Depreciation expense	267	246
Other operating expenses	670	1,037
Income tax expense (benefit)	(333)	(322)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	2,285	(905)
Segment assets	5,193,058	5,241,196
Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	0
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(233)	(52)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(909)	(822)
Income tax expense (benefit)	316	269
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	360	501
Segment assets	(4,829,729)	(4,913,674)
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	410,323	409,626
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(45,361)	113,582
Non interest Income	135,208	112,142
Amortization of intangibles	861	2,282
Depreciation expense	12,143	12,287
Other operating expenses	306,920	300,377
Income tax expense (benefit)	58,813	15,101
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	212,155	78,139
Segment assets	55,990,801	42,392,356
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Commercial Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	179,511	161,534
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(27,606)	10,313
Non interest Income	25,741	24,712
Amortization of intangibles	54	48
Depreciation expense	5,289	5,150
Other operating expenses	86,828	74,875
Income tax expense (benefit)	42,108	25,616
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	98,579	70,244
Segment assets	51,622,574	33,212,687
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Consumer and Retail Banking
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	229,386	243,056
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(17,755)	103,269
Non interest Income	86,197	63,984
Amortization of intangibles	694	1,310
Depreciation expense	6,685	6,978
Other operating expenses	199,316	202,042
Income tax expense (benefit)	15,582	(12,952)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	111,061	6,393
Segment assets	28,932,452	24,388,065
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Other Financial Services
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	1,426	5,036
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	23,658	23,740
Amortization of intangibles	113	924
Depreciation expense	169	159
Other operating expenses	21,268	23,769
Income tax expense (benefit)	1,123	2,437
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	2,411	1,487
Segment assets	2,386,006	3,080,386
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | Reportable Segment | Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	0	0
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	0	0
Non interest Income	(388)	(294)
Amortization of intangibles	0	0
Depreciation expense	0	0
Other operating expenses	(492)	(309)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	104	15
Segment assets	(26,950,231)	(18,288,782)
PB | Reportable Segment
Segment Reporting Information
Net Interest income (expense)	79,169	72,689
Provision (reversal) for credit losses	(36,720)	75,991
Non interest Income	5,666	5,232
Amortization of intangibles	166	167
Depreciation expense	2,328	1,953
Other operating expenses	53,194	55,194
Income tax expense (benefit)	18,035	(11,951)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	47,832	(43,433)
Segment assets	$ 10,557,751	$ 10,107,045