Summary of significant accounting policies	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Summary of significant accounting policies	1. Summary of significant accounting policies: Nature of operations: Peoples Financial Services Corp., a bank holding company incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania, provides a full 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”). The Company services its retail and commercial customers through twenty-six full-service community banking offices located within the Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties of Pennsylvania and Broome County of New York. Basis of presentation: 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. The operating results and financial position of the Company for the three and nine months ended and as of September 30, 2015, 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, impairment of goodwill and fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations. 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, 2014. The Company has evaluated events and transactions occurring subsequent to the balance sheet date of September 30, 2015, 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: In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-03, “Interest—Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs.” ASU 2015-03 requires that debt issuance costs be reported in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the face amount of the related liability, consistent with the presentation of debt discounts. Prior to the amendments, debt issuance costs were presented as a deferred charge (i.e., an asset) on the balance sheet. The ASU provides examples illustrating the balance sheet presentation of notes net of their related discounts and debt issuance costs. Further, the amendments require the amortization of debt issuance costs to be reported as interest expense. Similarly, debt issuance costs and any discount or premium are considered in the aggregate when determining the effective interest rate on the debt. The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments must be applied retrospectively. The adoption of ASU 2015-03 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-12, “Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962), Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965): (Part I) Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts, (Part II) Plan Investment Disclosures, (Part III) Measurement Date Practical Expedient.” The amendments in ASU 2015-12 (i) require fully benefit-responsive investment contracts to be measured, presented and disclosed only at contract value, not fair value; (ii) simplify the investment disclosure requirements; and (iii) provide a measurement date practical expedient for employee benefit plans. Part I. Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts – the amendments designate contract value as the only required measurement for fully benefit-responsive investments contracts within the scope of Topics 962 and 965, eliminating the requirement to measure, present and disclose such contracts also at fair value and reconcile fair value to contract value. Part II. Plan Investment Disclosures – the amendments eliminate certain disclosure requirements for both participant-directed investments and nonparticipant-directed investments, and also reduce disclosures required specifically for investments using the net asset value per share practical expedient. The amendments also require that both participant-directed and nonparticipant-directed investments be grouped only by general type, eliminating the need to disaggregate the investments in multiple ways (i.e., also on the basis of nature, characteristics, and risks as required by Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement). Part III. Measurement Date Practical Expedient – the amendments provide a measurement date practical expedient for employee benefit plans similar to the practical expedient allowing employers to measure defined benefit plan assets on a month-end date that is nearest to the employer’s fiscal year-end, when the fiscal period does not coincide with a month-end. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted for all three parts individually or in the aggregate. Parts I and II of the ASU should be applied retrospectively, while Part III should be applied prospectively. Only the nature and reason for the change in accounting principle is required to be disclosed in the annual period of adoption. The adoption of ASU 2015-12 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, “Revenue from Contracts (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date.” ASU 2015-14 defers the effective date of the new revenue recognition standard by one year. As such, it now takes effect for public entities in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted for any entity that chooses to adopt the new standard as of the original effective date. The adoption of ASU 2015-14 on January 1, 2018, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-15, “Interest – Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Presentation and Subsequent Measurement of Debt Issuance Costs Associated with Line-of-Credit Arrangements.” ASU 2015-15 codifies a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) staff announcement that entities are permitted to defer and present debt issuance costs related to line-of-credit arrangements as assets. ASU 2015-15 clarifies that the SEC staff would not object to an entity deferring and presenting debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortizing the deferred debt issuance costs ratably over the term of the line-of-credit arrangement, regardless of whether there are any outstanding borrowings on the line-of-credit arrangement. ASU 2015-15 is effective immediately. The adoption of ASU 2015-15 did not have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company. In September, 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, “Business Combination (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.” ASU 2015-16 requires adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period to be recognized in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. This includes any effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. In addition, the amendments in the proposed Update would require an entity to disclose, either on the face of the income statement or in the notes, the nature and amount of measurement-period adjustments recognized in the current period, including separately the amounts in current-period income statement line items that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods if the adjustment to the provisional amounts had been recognized as of the acquisition date. The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this Update should be applied prospectively to measurement-period adjustments that occur after the effective date of this ASU. The adoption of ASU 2015-16 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.

1. Summary of significant accounting policies:

Nature of operations:

Peoples Financial Services Corp., a bank holding company incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania, provides a full 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”). The Company services its retail and commercial customers through twenty-six full-service community banking offices located within the Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties of Pennsylvania and Broome County of New York.

Basis of presentation:

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. The operating results and financial position of the Company for the three and nine months ended and as of September 30, 2015, 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, impairment of goodwill and fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations. 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, 2014.

The Company has evaluated events and transactions occurring subsequent to the balance sheet date of September 30, 2015, 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:

In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-03, “Interest—Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs.”

ASU 2015-03 requires that debt issuance costs be reported in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the face amount of the related liability, consistent with the presentation of debt discounts. Prior to the amendments, debt issuance costs were presented as a deferred charge (i.e., an asset) on the balance sheet. The ASU provides examples illustrating the balance sheet presentation of notes net of their related discounts and debt issuance costs. Further, the amendments require the amortization of debt issuance costs to be reported as interest expense. Similarly, debt issuance costs and any discount or premium are considered in the aggregate when determining the effective interest rate on the debt.

The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments must be applied retrospectively. The adoption of ASU 2015-03 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-12, “Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962), Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965): (Part I) Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts, (Part II) Plan Investment Disclosures, (Part III) Measurement Date Practical Expedient.”

The amendments in ASU 2015-12 (i) require fully benefit-responsive investment contracts to be measured, presented and disclosed only at contract value, not fair value; (ii) simplify the investment disclosure requirements; and (iii) provide a measurement date practical expedient for employee benefit plans.

Part I. Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts – the amendments designate contract value as the only required measurement for fully benefit-responsive investments contracts within the scope of Topics 962 and 965, eliminating the requirement to measure, present and disclose such contracts also at fair value and reconcile fair value to contract value.

Part II. Plan Investment Disclosures – the amendments eliminate certain disclosure requirements for both participant-directed investments and nonparticipant-directed investments, and also reduce disclosures required specifically for investments using the net asset value per share practical expedient. The amendments also require that both participant-directed and nonparticipant-directed investments be grouped only by general type, eliminating the need to disaggregate the investments in multiple ways (i.e., also on the basis of nature, characteristics, and risks as required by Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement).

Part III. Measurement Date Practical Expedient – the amendments provide a measurement date practical expedient for employee benefit plans similar to the practical expedient allowing employers to measure defined benefit plan assets on a month-end date that is nearest to the employer’s fiscal year-end, when the fiscal period does not coincide with a month-end.

The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted for all three parts individually or in the aggregate. Parts I and II of the ASU should be applied retrospectively, while Part III should be applied prospectively. Only the nature and reason for the change in accounting principle is required to be disclosed in the annual period of adoption. The adoption of ASU 2015-12 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.

In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, “Revenue from Contracts (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date.”

ASU 2015-14 defers the effective date of the new revenue recognition standard by one year. As such, it now takes effect for public entities in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted for any entity that chooses to adopt the new standard as of the original effective date. The adoption of ASU 2015-14 on January 1, 2018, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.

In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-15, “Interest – Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Presentation and Subsequent Measurement of Debt Issuance Costs Associated with Line-of-Credit Arrangements.”

ASU 2015-15 codifies a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) staff announcement that entities are permitted to defer and present debt issuance costs related to line-of-credit arrangements as assets. ASU 2015-15 clarifies that the SEC staff would not object to an entity deferring and presenting debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortizing the deferred debt issuance costs ratably over the term of the line-of-credit arrangement, regardless of whether there are any outstanding borrowings on the line-of-credit arrangement. ASU 2015-15 is effective immediately. The adoption of ASU 2015-15 did not have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.

In September, 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, “Business Combination (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.”

ASU 2015-16 requires adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period to be recognized in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. This includes any effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date.

In addition, the amendments in the proposed Update would require an entity to disclose, either on the face of the income statement or in the notes, the nature and amount of measurement-period adjustments recognized in the current period, including separately the amounts in current-period income statement line items that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods if the adjustment to the provisional amounts had been recognized as of the acquisition date.

The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this Update should be applied prospectively to measurement-period adjustments that occur after the effective date of this ASU. The adoption of ASU 2015-16 on January 1, 2016, is not expected to have a material effect on the operating results or financial position of the Company.