Do you honestly think a manufacturer would format a drive such that it’s performance would be slow for small files? Do you honestly think a journeling format designed for hard drives is better for a removable USB drive? And if you do why didn’t the manufacturer put it on the drive?
exFAT is the new standard for removable drives, don’t change it.
As for Secure Access, if you do reformat the drive, download the app from SanDisk and reinstall it.
As for the RescuePro sticker do note SanDisk no longer supports it. https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7473/~/rescuepro-support-information-page
