Brokerage outage: Schwab blames high trading volumes and a technical issue

Charles Schwab & Co. said on Tuesday that high trading volumes and a technical issue with a key vendor triggered temporary outages on its trading platform on Monday, a day when its customers rushed to navigate an outsize market sell-off.

A spokesperson for the firm did not identify what kind of technical issue hampered the ability of Schwab clients to log on to their accounts, or name the vendor.

“A combination of higher volumes and a technical issue with a key vendor affecting our systems led to log-on issues and call wait times that were longer than we expect,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding the issues were resolved and “platforms are fully available.”

Other firms also had issues.

Some U.S. customers reported struggling to log in to their accounts at Fidelity and Vanguard on Monday morning, the firms said in social media posts that day, even as Wall Street’s main indexes opened sharply lower thanks to weak economic data, underwhelming technology firm earnings reports, and increased anxiety about the geopolitical outlook.

Outage tracking website Downdetector reported that nearly 14,500 Schwab users could not access the site, while more than 3,600 users reported problems with Fidelity.

Fidelity confirmed that some of its customers experienced intermittent outages on Monday morning but declined additional comment. A spokesperson for Vanguard declined comment on the cause of access issues on Monday at that firm.

Steve Sanders, executive vice president at Interactive Brokers, said that in the first 90 minutes of trading on Monday, the firm traded more than 5 million shares, compared to 5.9 million throughout the full trading session Friday. Interactive Brokers said it did not experience any outages on Monday or overnight.

Some disappointed investors reached out to Lawrence Klayman, an attorney whose Boca Raton, Florida-based securities law firm KlaymanToskes specializes in pursuing trading-related arbitration claims.

“The wheels of justice grind slowly,” Klayman said, noting that it will take time and research to assemble and file any claims, and that only those investors who lost $100,000 or more may find arbitration a cost-effective remedy.

—By Suzanne McGee, Reuters

<hr class=“wp-block-separator is-style-wide”/> https://www.fastcompany.com/91168845/brokerage-outage-schwab-high-trading-volumes-technical-issue-vendor?partner=rss&amp;utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&amp;utm_content=rss

Created 9mo | Aug 7, 2024, 12:50:06 AM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

“Hostile and political”: Jeff Bezos should have known Trump was always going to turn against Amazon

Consumers are only just starting to feel pain from Trump’s Liberation Day tariff spree. Amazon

Apr 29, 2025, 9:30:07 PM | Fast company - tech
In his first 100 days, Trump’s tariffs are already threatening the AI boom

When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, many in the tech world hoped his promises to champion artificial intelligence and cut regulation would outweigh the risks of his famously vol

Apr 29, 2025, 4:50:07 PM | Fast company - tech
How learning like a gamer helped this high-school dropout succeed

There are so many ways to die. You could fall off a cliff. A monk could light you on fire. A bat the size of a yacht could kick your head in. You’ve only just begun the game, and yet here you are,

Apr 29, 2025, 12:20:08 PM | Fast company - tech
Renate Nyborg’s Meeno wants to become the Duolingo of dating

Former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg launched Meeno less than two years ago with the intention of it being an AI chatbot that help

Apr 29, 2025, 12:20:07 PM | Fast company - tech
How Big Tech’s Faustian bargain with Trump backfired

The most indelible image from Donald Trump’s inauguration in January is not the image of the president taking the oath of office without his hand on the Bible. It is not the image of the First Lad

Apr 29, 2025, 12:20:06 PM | Fast company - tech
Turns out AI is really bad at picking up on social cues

Ernest Hemingway had an influential theory about fiction that might explain a lot about a p

Apr 29, 2025, 12:20:04 PM | Fast company - tech