Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Nature of operations	Nature of operations: Peoples Financial Services Corp., a bank holding company incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania, provides a range of financial services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company (“Peoples Bank”), including its subsidiaries, Peoples Advisors, LLC and Penseco Realty, Inc. (collectively, the “Company” or “Peoples”). On November 30, 2013, Penseco Financial Services Corporation, a financial holding company incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania (“Penseco”), merged with and into Peoples Financial Services Corp., with Peoples Financial Services Corp. being the surviving corporation (the “Merger”), pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated June 28, 2013 (the “Merger Agreement”). In connection with the Merger, on December 1, 2013, Penseco’s former banking subsidiary, Penn Security Bank and Trust Company, merged with and into Peoples Neighborhood Bank (the “Bank Merger”), and the resulting institution adopted the name Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company. The Company services its retail and commercial customers through twenty-six full-service community banking offices located within the Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Broome County of New York.
Basis of presentation	Basis of presentation: The aforementioned merger between the Company and Penseco was accounted for as a reverse acquisition whereby Penseco was treated as the acquirer for accounting and reporting purposes. As a result, the historical financial information prior to the merger date included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes as reported in this Form 10-Q is that of Penseco. The number of shares issued and outstanding and the amount of common stock and capital surplus in 2013 periods were retroactively adjusted to reflect the equivalent number of shares issued by the Company in the merger. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP’) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10-01 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position and results of operations for the periods presented have been included. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Prior-period amounts are reclassified when necessary to conform to the current year’s presentation. These reclassifications did not have any effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. Certain disclosures related to impaired and nonaccrual loans have been revised for December 31, 2013. Such revisions were not material and had no effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. The operating results and financial position of the Company for the nine months ended and as of September 30, 2014, are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations and financial position that may be expected in the future. The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates that are particularly susceptible to material change in the near term relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses, fair value of financial instruments, the valuation of real estate acquired in connection with foreclosures or in satisfaction of loans, the valuation of deferred tax assets, determination of other-than-temporary impairment losses on securities and impairment of goodwill. Actual results could differ from those estimates. For additional information and disclosures required under GAAP, reference is made to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2013. The Company has evaluated events and transactions occurring subsequent to the balance sheet date of September 30, 2014, for items that should potentially be recognized or disclosed in these consolidated financial statements. The evaluation was conducted through the date these consolidated financial statements were issued.
Recent accounting standards	Recent accounting standards: In August 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-13, “Consolidation (Topic 810): Measuring the Financial Assets and the Financial Liabilities of a Consolidated Collateralized Financing Entity.” The amendments in this Update address the measurement mismatch that often results from the difference between the fair value of the financial assets and financial liabilities of a consolidated collateralized financing entity (“CFE”). The ASU provides an option for measuring the financial assets and financial liabilities of a CFE to eliminate that difference under certain conditions. Under that option, a reporting entity should use the more observable of the fair value of the financial assets and the fair value of the financial liabilities of a CFE to measure both. If an entity does not elect the measurement alternative, it should continue applying the measurement guidance in Topic 820 to assets and liabilities that are carried at fair value in the financial statements. This ASU is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. The adoption of ASU 2014-13 is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-14, “Receivables – Troubled Debt Restructurings by Creditors (Subtopic 310-40): Classification of Certain Government-Guaranteed Mortgage Loans upon Foreclosure.” The amendments in this Update address a practice issue related to the classification of certain foreclosed residential and nonresidential mortgage loans that are either fully or partially guaranteed under government programs. Specifically, creditors should reclassify loans that meet certain conditions to other receivables upon foreclosure, rather than reclassifying them to other real estate owned. The separate other receivable recorded upon foreclosure is to be measured based on the amount of the loan balance, principal and interest, the creditor expects to recover from the guarantor. This ASU is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2014. The adoption of ASU 2014-14 is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.