Vanguard, TD Ameritrade latest digital services to struggle with market downturn

The worst market performance since the global financial crisis continues to make trouble for digital investment services.

Vanguard Group customers reported being unable to log in to their digital portals Friday morning as U.S. markets continued to plunge amid coronavirus fears.

Vanguard spokesperson Carolyn Wegemann said the company’s digital services experienced a two-minute outage this morning and it is still determining the exact cause. Vanguard is dealing with some slow response times, but customers should eventually be able to login to view their balances and conduct transactions, she said.

“Vanguard is experiencing higher-than-normal phone and web traffic given the steep declines in the global stock markets,” Ms. Wegemann added. “We are working to correct the reported connectivity issues, and thank clients for their patience at this time.”

TD Ameritrade customers also reported issues with the mobile app crashing and being unable to trade on the thinkorswim trading platform, though many have said the trading issues have since been resolved.

TD did not respond to a request for comment. On Twitter, the online broker told clients a forced update to Apple iOS system has made its service unavailable to customers using older devices or out-of-date software. TD also apologized for heavy phone volume creating wait times as long as 50 minutes.

Earlier this week, Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab also experienced problems with their digital services. Fidelity said the technical issues have been resolved and Schwab, which attributed delays to high volume, said its systems are now fine.

Digital platforms similarly struggled during market volatility in 2018, with high volume making Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, T. Rowe Price, Betterment and Wealthfront either slower than usual or temporarily inaccessible.

So far, the robo-advisers haven't had issues during the 2020 downturn.