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ACQUISITIONS - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, € in Millions, AUD in Millions										1 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 01, 2017 USD ($) shares	Apr. 22, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Oct. 05, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 05, 2015 EUR (€)	Jun. 01, 2015 USD ($) location	Mar. 25, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 25, 2015 EUR (€)	Oct. 10, 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2014 AUD	May 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill acquired											$ 28,820	$ 784,668		$ 3,372,170
ACTIVE Network
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross	$ 599,497
Equity interest issued (shares) | shares	6,357,509
Goodwill acquired												784,668
Deductible amount of goodwill (as a percent)	80.00%
Total purchase consideration	$ 1,171,576											$ 1,171,576
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross		$ 2,043,362
Goodwill acquired													$ 3,238,492
Total purchase consideration		$ 3,922,820								$ 37,500			3,922,820
Equity interest of acquiree outstanding (in shares) | shares		38,400,000
Exchange ratio per share | shares		0.6687
Share price (USD per share) | $ / shares		$ 73.29
Business acquisition, transaction costs											$ 24,700		$ 24,700
Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of voting interests acquired						95.00%	95.00%
Cumulative percentage ownership after all transactions			100.00%	100.00%
Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross								$ 266,000	AUD 302.6
Percentage of voting interests acquired								100.00%	100.00%
FIS Gaming Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business, gross					$ 237,500
Number of locations | location					260
Customer-related intangible assets | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						16 years	16 years
Customer-related intangible assets | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life								15 years	15 years
Customer-related intangible assets | FIS Gaming Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life					15 years
Acquired technology | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						10 years	10 years
Acquired technology | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life								15 years	15 years
Trade name | Realex Payments
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life						7 years	7 years
Trade name | Ezidebit
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life								5 years	5 years
Euro Member Countries, 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

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