Schwab says online access for customers restored

(Reuters) - Charles Schwab Corp said that customer access to online accounts was restored on Friday morning, just minutes before U.S. stock markets opened for trading.

Earlier, the company said access to accounts and online trading platforms were unavailable.

The problem, which prevented customers from checking accounts and entering orders, lasted from 3:54 a.m. to 9:21 a.m. EDT. Officials were not immediately available to explain the cause of the problem.

A customer service representative said that execution of orders when the U.S. market opened at 9:30 a.m. appeared to be operating as normal. Schwab customers had earlier used Twitter accounts to express dismay at being unable to place premarket orders.

Stock trading has been heavy in the past week as a result of strong market volatility that active investors seize upon to make trades. Many traders put in orders when the market is closed, creating a backlog of trades that are executed as the New York Stock Exchange opens.

Earlier in the week, discount brokers Scottrade Inc and TD Ameritrade reported some order processing problems.

(Reporting by Jed Horowitz in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Matthew Lewis)

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