BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Business, consolidation and presentation	Business, consolidation and presentation— We are a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions delivering innovative services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of solutions that allow our customers to accept various payment types and operate their businesses more efficiently. We distribute our services across a variety of channels in 32 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil and operate in three reportable segments: North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. We were incorporated in Georgia as Global Payments Inc. in 2000 and spun-off from our former parent company in 2001. Including our time as part of our former parent company, we have been in the payment technology services business since 1967. Global Payments Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries are referred to collectively as "Global Payments," the "Company," "we," "our" or "us," unless the context requires otherwise. These unaudited consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our majority-owned subsidiaries, and all intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") for interim financial information pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 was derived from the audited financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP for annual financial statements. In the opinion of our management, all known adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results of the interim periods have been made. These adjustments consist of normal recurring accruals and estimates that affect the carrying amount of assets and liabilities. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Use of estimates	Use of estimates— The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements and Recently Issued Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted	Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements— In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2016-02, "Leases." ASU 2016-02 requires recognition of assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by leases and new disclosures about leases. We adopted ASU 2016-02, as well as other related clarifications and interpretive guidance issued by the FASB, on January 1, 2019 using the optional modified retrospective transition method. Under this transition method, we did not recast the prior period financial statements presented. We elected the transition package of three practical expedients, which among other things, allowed for the carryforward of historical lease classifications. We made accounting policy elections not to recognize assets or liabilities for leases with a term of less than twelve months and to account for all components in a lease arrangement as a single combined lease component. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 resulted in the measurement and recognition of lease liabilities in the amount of $274.0 million and right-of-use assets in the amount of $236.0 million as of January 1, 2019. Lease liabilities were measured as the present value of remaining lease payments, and the corresponding right-of-use assets were measured at an amount equal to the lease liabilities adjusted by the amounts of certain assets and liabilities, such as deferred lease obligations and prepaid rent, that we previously recognized on the balance sheet prior to the initial application of ASU 2016-02. To calculate the present value of remaining lease payments, we elected to use an incremental borrowing rate based on the remaining lease term at transition. Recently Issued Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted— In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract (A Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force)." ASU 2018-15 provides additional guidance on the accounting for costs of implementation activities performed in a cloud computing arrangement (i.e., hosting arrangement) that is a service contract. The new guidance amends the definition of a hosting arrangement and requires a customer in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract to capitalize certain implementation costs as if the arrangement was an internal-use software project. We have historically capitalized implementation costs for internal-use software projects and will continue to do so pursuant to the clarifications provided in the new guidance. We expect to amortize deferred implementation costs to expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the hosting arrangement. The amendments in this update also provide additional presentation and disclosure requirements, including requirements to disclose the nature of an entity’s hosting arrangements that are service contracts as well as quantitative information about capitalized implementation costs and related amortization expense. The guidance will become effective for us on January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019. Entities have the option to apply the guidance prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively. We are comparing the guidance in ASU 2018-15 to our current accounting practices for costs of implementation activities performed in cloud computing arrangements. We have not yet quantified the effect, if any, of ASU 2018-15 on our consolidated balance sheet or our statements of income and cash flows. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments." The amendments in this update change how companies measure and recognize credit impairment for many financial instruments measured at amortized cost. The new model for current expected credit losses ("CECL") will require us to immediately recognize an estimate of credit losses expected to occur over the remaining life of the financial instruments that are in the scope of the update, including accounts receivable and settlement processing assets, each of which are short-term in nature. Under current GAAP, credit losses on these financial instruments are not recognized until their occurrence is deemed to be probable. The guidance will become effective for us on January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019. In general, the new guidance will require modified retrospective application to all outstanding financial assets that are in the scope of the update, with a cumulative-effect adjustment, if any, recorded to retained earnings as of the date of adoption. We are evaluating the effect of ASU 2016-13 on our consolidated financial statements, including comparing how we currently measure and recognize our allowance for doubtful accounts on accounts receivable and our reserve for operating losses and sales allowances to how we would make such measurements applying the new CECL model. We have not yet quantified the effect, if any, of ASU 2016-13 on our consolidated balance sheet or our statement of income.