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ACQUISITIONS - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, € in Millions, merchant in Millions, AUD in Millions										3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Apr. 22, 2016 USD ($) employee merchant $ / shares shares	Oct. 05, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 05, 2015 EUR (€)	Jun. 01, 2015 USD ($) gaming_client_location	Mar. 25, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 25, 2015 EUR (€)	Oct. 10, 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2014 AUD	Mar. 04, 2014 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2014 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill										$ 4,829,405				$ 1,491,833				$ 4,829,405	$ 1,491,833
Revenues										747,064	$ 679,940	$ 722,350	$ 748,796	706,549	$ 664,983	$ 697,291	$ 704,895	2,898,150	2,773,718	$ 2,554,236
Operating income (loss) for segments										56,202	$ 107,805	$ 123,165	$ 137,772	103,600	$ 104,615	$ 123,984	$ 124,398	424,944	456,597	$ 405,499
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid per outstanding share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 53.28
Shares received per outstanding shares (in shares) | shares	0.6687
Total purchase consideration	$ 3,922,820
Maximum borrowing capacity (up to)	$ 4,780,000
Shares of Heartland common stock (in shares) | shares	38,350,000
Share price of Global Payments common stock | $ / shares	$ 73.29
Business acquisition, transaction costs										$ 24,400								$ 24,400
Number of employees added as a result of the merger | employee	1,400
Increase in number of merchants | merchant	0.3
Increase in annual payment volume as a result of merger	$ 130,000,000
Goodwill	3,216,248
Payments to acquire business, gross	$ 2,043,362
Percentage of voting interests acquired	100.00%
Fair value of Global Payments common stock issued to Heartland's stockholders	$ 1,879,458
Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition, transaction costs					$ 1,200									$ 1,200					$ 1,200
Goodwill					$ 66,809
Percentage of voting interests acquired					95.00%
Cumulative percentage ownership after all transactions		100.00%	100.00%
Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill							$ 203,828
Payments to acquire business, gross							$ 266,000	AUD 302.6
Percentage of voting interests acquired							100.00%
FIS Gaming Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill				$ 94,250
Number of customers acquired | gaming_client_location				260
Payments to acquire business, gross				$ 237,500
PayPros
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill									$ 270,878
Payments to acquire business, gross									$ 426,500
Percentage of voting interests acquired									100.00%
Intangible Assets, Amortization Period [Member] | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		11 years
Customer-related intangible assets | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		16 years
Customer-related intangible assets | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		15 years
Customer-related intangible assets | FIS Gaming Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		15 years
Contract-based and customer-related intangible assets | PayPros
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		13 years
Trade name | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		7 years
Trade name | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		5 years
Acquired technology | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		5 years
Acquired technology | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		10 years
Acquired technology | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		15 years
Acquired technology | PayPros
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		7 years
Trademarks and trade names | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		7 years
Euro | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross | €			€ 6.7			€ 110.2
United States of America, Dollars | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross		$ 7,500			$ 118,900
Scenario, Previously Reported | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill							$ 192,225
Scenario, Previously Reported | FIS Gaming Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill				$ 102,450
Minimum | Customer-related intangible assets | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		7 years
Minimum | Covenants-not-to-compete | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		1 year
Maximum | Customer-related intangible assets | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		20 years
Maximum | Covenants-not-to-compete | Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																		4 years
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of revenue represented by subsidiary																		4.00%
Percentage of operating income represented by subsidiary (less than)																		0.50%

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