Entity Framework 6 inheritance strategy defaults. Table per Hierarchy (TPH) - one table for all types with type discriminator column Table per Concrete Type (TPC) - one table per concrete type with common properties copied in each table From http://weblogs.asp.net/manavi/archive/2010/12/24/inheritance-mapping-strategies-with-entity-framework-cod…

EF_WillDefaultToTPC.cs

public abstract class BillingDetail 
{
    public int BillingDetailId { get; set; }
    public string Owner { get; set; }        
    public string Number { get; set; }
}
 
public class BankAccount : BillingDetail
{
    public string BankName { get; set; }
    public string Swift { get; set; }
}
 
public class CreditCard : BillingDetail
{
    public int CardType { get; set; }                
    public string ExpiryMonth { get; set; }
    public string ExpiryYear { get; set; }
}
 
public class InheritanceMappingContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<BankAccount> BankAccounts { get; set; }
    public DbSet<CreditCard> CreditCards { get; set; }
}

EF_WillDefaultToTPH.cs

public abstract class BillingDetail 
{
    public int BillingDetailId { get; set; }
    public string Owner { get; set; }        
    public string Number { get; set; }
}
 
public class BankAccount : BillingDetail
{
    public string BankName { get; set; }
    public string Swift { get; set; }
}
 
public class CreditCard : BillingDetail
{
    public int CardType { get; set; }                
    public string ExpiryMonth { get; set; }
    public string ExpiryYear { get; set; }
}
 
public class InheritanceMappingContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<BillingDetail> BillingDetails { get; set; }
}