NickB

I think you are reading too much in this. AIUI, the SEPA regulation imposes obligations on banking institutions only, not on retailers. It requires them to treat intra-Eurozone transfer operations in the same manner as intra-state transfer operations. It should therefore be the same for a French employer to pay a salary into a French or Irish bank account and the banks can no longer levy extra fees on such cross-border operations. The SEPA regulation and cross-border payment directive also impose a certain number of other obligations on banking institutions. However, those obligations are on banking institutions only (more accurately: "payment service providers" or PSPs).

The SEPA regulatory framework does not oblige retailers to accept transactions from anywhere in the EU. There is no general obligation on service or goods providers not to discriminate against customers in other Member States (although there are specific prohibitions on discrimination in certain situations and certain sectors). For the time being, it is still as a rule open to a trader to restrict access to its services to to residents of a particular Member State if it so wishes. Earnaway do exactly that and their TandCs make it clear that membership in the scheme is reserved to UK residents. It is equally open to them to require possession of a UK bank account if they so wish.

Finally, further note that, in any event, the UK is not in the Eurozone and much of the SEPA framework only applies for Euro payments, not Sterling payments.