I thought this was just a way to reduce money laundry. If the church would just receive donations, it gets hard to track where the money is coming from/going to. There's a church in Brazil that flies helicopters out of the temple carrying cash [1]. If you're a drug dealer there's no money laundry scheme better than this.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciw8ciqPY_c